MILLER, Wayne P.

Economic impact of closing rural hospitals : the case of huntsville memorial hospital - New York : Marcel Dekker, 1995

This study estimates the economic impact of closing a rural hospital located in Madison County, which is near a growing metropolitan area. IMPLAN, an economic input-output model is used to estimate the number of jobs and amount of income lost in the County for two scenarios which portray the worst and best case possibilities. The results suggest that the adverse economic effects of losing a rural hospital which is close to a growing metropolitan area are small if the laid-off workers find similar jobs in nearby counties and maintain their current residence. Therefore, the adverse economic impact of closing rural hospitals should not be used as the primary justification for maintaining hospitals which provide traditional health care services.