Financial Fix, Quality Flaw: Lessons From Pennsylvania’s Rural Health Model Dinesh R. Pai February 11, 2026

https://www.healthaffairs.org/content/forefront/financial-fix-quality-flaw-lessons-pennsylvania-s-rural-health-model?utm_campaign=forefront&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--rf1mND4lv7FdmfuBuUEv990zCMviMf9t2yQSG5Ku60WC6cXoaWnIwBLuNwapZiosIYM5xl0H4FkbBS9NcLQweVmyavQ&_hsmi=403582794&utm_source=hasu The financial collapse of the US’s rural hospitals remains one of the most persistent and urgent crises in health care policy. Since 2005, more than 180 rural hospitals have shuttered, and more than a quarter of those remaining face imminent financial ruin. This instability does more than threaten balance sheets; it hollows out patient access to care and destabilizes the economic bedrock of entire communities.