Tennessee has used up the remainder of a $10 million fund created to bolster small hospitals facing financial struggles during the COVID-19 pandemic. Gov. Bill Lee announced the final round of Small and Rural Hospital Readiness Grants recipients in a press release Tuesday morning.
Investigation: Cookeville’s Only Hospital Sues Thousands Who May Be Insured But Still Can’t Pay
A WPLN News investigation finds the city-owned hospital has sued more than 11,000 patients over two decades and has no intention of changing its ways.
Delays Reopening Celina Dash Hopes Of Reviving Other Tennessee Hospitals
The new owner of a shuttered hospital on the Cumberland Plateau is discovering why closure often becomes permanent. Cumberland River Hospital in Celina was purchased in August with a pledge to reopen within weeks.
Lincoln County’s Hospital Gets A New CEO Amid Competing Visions For The Future
Listen / Lincoln County’s only hospital has a new CEO who starts this week. Russ Spray has managed other hospitals in southern Middle Tennessee, but now he’s tasked with turning around a facility on the Alabama border that has been bleeding millions of dollars a year.
Crossville Clinician Snaps Up Shuttered Celina Hospital, May Buy Others In Rural Tennessee
Listen / A physician assistant from Crossville has purchased the shuttered Cumberland River Hospital in Celina and has expressed interest in buying other struggling facilities on the Cumberland Plateau. The community is relieved, even though the hospital is far from reopening.
Jamestown Hospital Cuts Staff But Vows To Stay Open Amid Loss Of Federal Payments
Listen / The hospital in Jamestown, Tenn., is cutting its staff but vowing not to close. The facility is in trouble because as of Wednesday, it’s been cut off from Medicare or Medicaid, and local officials fear the facility can’t make it.
Tennessee’s Struggling Rural Hospitals Seek Outside Help To Restructure
Listen / Many rural hospitals across Tennessee are about to get some outside advice on how to restructure. The state has launched a program to help rural hospitals hire outside consultants, after approving $1 million a year as part of the Rural Hospital Transformation Act.
To Save Themselves, Tennessee’s Rural Hospitals Consider A New Way To Get Paid
Listen / Tennessee’s rural hospitals are contemplating a new way to get paid in an effort to stave off their demise. Until now, there have been few solutions put forward — other than having the state expand TennCare to include the working poor, which is unlikely. The latest idea asks insurance companies to prop up […]
Florida Lab Company Buys A Third Struggling Tennessee Hospital
Listen / A Florida-based firm sees opportunity in some of Tennessee’s struggling rural hospitals. Rennova Health has bought a third facility on the upper Cumberland Plateau.
Rural Tennessee Town Braces For The Inevitable Ripple Effects Of Losing Its Hospital
Listen / As of 7 a.m. Friday, the small town of Celina has no functioning hospital. Cumberland River Hospital became the 11th rural hospital in Tennessee to close in recent years — more than any state but Texas. Now the remote lakeside community of 1,500 people is bracing for inevitable ripple effects, which include a […]
On Air - 90.3 WPLN-FM