Dive Brief:
- Kindred Hospital Kansas City, a long-term acute care (LTAC) facility with 115 employees, has ceased operations, the Kansas City Business Journal reported.
- The hospital, a subsidiary Kindred Healthcare, will consolidate its services with Kindred Hospital Northland, a 35-bed transitional care hospital. Both hospitals are located in Kansas City, Mo.
- Separately, Pacific Alliance Medical Center in Los Angeles has closed due to the cost of bringing the facility up to California’s earthquake standards, according to Becker’s Hospital CFO. The closure affects 638 employees. Earlier this year, the hospital and its parent company agreed to pay the government $42 million to settle federal fraud and kickback allegations.
Dive Insight:
The two closures are the latest in a series of such activity nationwide.
In Rhode Island, for example, Care New England announced in October it would close Memorial Hospital in Pawtucket. The move came after talks with Prime Healthcare Foundation to purchase the 294-bed financially strapped hospital fell through.
Kindred's Kansas City decision comes after its July decision to close Kindred Hospital Central Ohio and its August decision to close a long-term care hospital in Detroit. The closing of 167-bed Kindred Hospital Kansas City is part of Kindred Healthcare’s effort to restructure its LTAC hospitals. The Louisville, Ky.-based health system, which currently has 77 LTACs, has divested or closed 21 in the past year.
Lower inpatient volumes and cuts in reimbursement are hurting hospitals’ bottom lines, positioning many to divest or close under-performing facilities this year.
Hospital closings can take a real toll on communities, especially in rural and smaller communities where they may be the biggest employer. In addition to providing jobs, they are a magnet for other businesses such as shops and restaurants. Poorer inner-city neighborhoods also suffer when a local hospital closes since residents may face transportation issues getting to another facility.