Thread by @LaurenWeberHP

NEW from me: I talked to rural hospital CEOs around the country, and the picture is dire.

Right when Americans most need them, droves of rural hospitals are weeks from closing their doors as the coronavirus prep saps their cash.

@NPR @KHNews

npr.org/sections/healt…

Nearly half of America's rural hospitals operate in the red on a normal day, much less during a global pandemic. The waves of canceled surgeries, labs and physical therapy means they may not have enough cash to make payroll in the coming weeks.

As one rural hospital CEO @RandyToblerMD looks at his older, sicker, underinsured patient population, he said he is afraid his MO hospital could last only until May. “In the truly safety-net areas, we’re being called to high duty,” he said. ”And we’re running on fumes.”

Supplies, like the N95 masks, are costing 16 times what they normally do in Missouri. One Georgia CEO told me she's having "crafty" staff make their own face masks: "I would rather staff go in with a fabric mask than no mask at all," she said.

Many worry a bailout for rural hospitals won't come fast enough: “And yet I hear they’re going to bail out the cruise lines? Really?” @RandyToblerMD said.

“We can talk all we want about the cost of health care in this country in this ridiculous health care system we have,” one rural hospital CEO told me. “But at a time like this, who for a minute would think about getting rid of rural hospitals?”

npr.org/sections/healt…