At Shuttered Hospital, Platner Accuses Collins of 'Throwing Gasoline' on Raging Rural Healthcare Crisis [View all]

"Joined by medical professionals, patients, and local healthcare advocates outside a hospital in central Maine that was forced to shut down last year, Democratic US Senate candidate Graham Platner on Wednesday highlighted the human impact of the crisis that he said Sen. Susan Collins is actively making worse by prioritizing 'health insurance companies, Big Pharma, and private equity firms' over Mainers—even as the Republican claims to bring crucial funds to the state’s struggling rural hospitals."

"Platner held a press conference outside the former Northern Light Inland Hospital in Waterville, Maine, which closed last May along with its associated primary care centers."

"The closure left roughly 5,000 patients without general practitioners and further away from an emergency department and inpatient care, as well as putting more than 300 local residents out of work."

"The hospital system said last May that it was closing Northern Light Inland due to rising operational costs, stagnant or reduced reimbursement rates, and a tight labor market with more competition for a smaller pool of qualified healthcare workers. A hospital official told Maine Public last year that the 48-bed facility was losing more than $1 million per month due to operating costs."

Continued at link:

https://www.commondreams.org/news/rural-hospital-closures-2677141888