When A Rural Hospital Closes, The Town Struggles To Survive

The story of Hancock Memorial Hospital in the tiny town of Sparta, Georgia is not unique. Hancock Memorial Hospital was among the first of nine rural hospitals that have closed across Georgia since 2000. Today, it’s overgrown with weeds and vines, while the roof caves on the gurneys and computers still inside. When County Commissioner Sistie Hudson tries to recruit a new industrial employer, one of the first things they ask is: “Do you have a hospital?” That's a non-starter for most businesses. 

University of North Carolina professor Mark Holmes studied the economic impact of 140 rural hospital closures nationwide. He found that three years out, losing a hospital costs a community, on average, “about 1.6 percentage points in unemployment, about $700 in per capita income, and that was in [year] 2000 dollars so that’d be probably about $1,000 currently." 

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