THOMASVILLE, Ala. (AP) — A handful of U.S. hospitals face a financial crisis that officials say was caused by the federal government's rules for pandemic relief money.
A trio of hospitals in Alabama, Kansas, and New Mexico says they're not getting as much assistance as other hospitals because they're so new they can't prove financial losses before the pandemic.
In rural southwest Alabama, Thomasville Regional Medical Center, which costs $40 million and has 29 hospital beds, says it's in danger of closing after just two years.
Federal health officials say all three hospitals have gotten some money from the CARES Act, and no health providers are getting all their losses reimbursed.
Thomasville officials said they have worked for over a year to persuade federal officials that they should've gotten more through the CARES ACT.
They said they received $1 million through the CARES ACT when they should've gotten $8.2 million in aid.
Thomasville's chief executive officer Curtis James says they have a total debt of $35 million.
At Rock Regional Hospital in Derby, Kansas, hospital officials say they should receive $15.8 million instead of $985,000.
Located in Las Cruces, New Mexico, Three Crosses Regional Hospital said it only got $28,000 in aid.
The hospital said they racked up $16.8 million in losses over a span of three quarters.
