Hospitals get mixed marks while many suffer from the effects of the struggling economy. Meanwhile, community health centers increasingly provide more care and help fill in health care gaps.
The Bucks County Courier Times reports on struggling hospitals. Hospitals might "appear recession-proof" but, in truth, "they're more often a money pit that only gets deeper in bad economic times, health care business experts say. Little national data exists about hospital bankruptcies and their long-term outcomes, since most financially distressed hospitals ... are sold or closed, rather than endure the grueling and expensive bankruptcy process, health care business experts say. ... Health care business and administration experts agree that hospitals are facing financial problems in the current economic climate, especially nonprofit hospitals" (Ciavaglia, 2/3).