Across Michigan rural hospitals have begun struggling, cutting departments and now closing down.
On June 19, Sturgis Hospital in St. Joseph County closed its doors after 100 years of service, 84 beds and 300 employees were lost for the community.
The hospital had been struggling for years.
In 2023, Sturgis Hospital became Michigan’s first federally designated rural emergency hospital. The status was created to provide additional financial support, but it wasn’t enough.
For some in the community what was once anticipated as a two-mile ambulance trip will now be closer to 25 miles, leaving ambulances and crew tied up for longer and the community underserved.
Sturgis isn’t alone, the hospital in Ontonagon shut down and reopened as a health clinic, eliminating all emergency services.
Now hospitals in Ironwood and Tawas have both ended labor and delivery.
Since 2010, 11 rural Michigan hospitals have ended labor and delivery services, leaving pregnant women in these areas further away from medical aid.
Nationwide, over 200 rural hospitals have closed or eliminated major services since 2005. Today, more than 400, about 20% of all rural hospitals, are considered at risk.
According to researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, more hospitals are showing warning signs of losing services or closing.
Research identified three Michigan hospitals at risk, Mclean Central Michigan in Mount Pleasant, U-M Health Sparrow Carson and Ascension Borgess-Lee in Dowagiac.
All three have operated at negative margins for the past three years. At this time there are no current plans to close the named hospitals, but financial pressure is growing.
Rural hospitals operate on thin margins, serving smaller populations, fewer patients, and caring for more Medicare and Medicaid patients, leaving reimburse rates lower than private insurance.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act is projected to cut about $1 trillion from Medicaid over the next decade, according to the Michigan Health and Hospital Association. That could mean more than $6 billion dollars in lost funding for Michigan hospitals over the next 10 years.
Michael Shepherd, a professor of health management and policy at the University of Michigan who focuses on rural health disparities joined Local 4 Live to tell us about risks associated with losing rural health options.
You can watch the full interview in the video at the beginning of this article.