Rural Health Insights
Explainers

Rural Hospital Closures in Arkansas and Surrounding States Since 2012

July 20, 2021

Source: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program

*Hover over the red x’s to view specific hospital information.

Contact

Jennifer Wessel, JD, MPH
Senior Policy Analyst and Data Privacy Officer
501-526-2244
JBWessel@achi.net

This map depicts the locations of rural hospital closures — a total of 59 — between January 2012 and July 2021 in Arkansas and in neighboring states, most of which have not expanded Medicaid. It is based on data from the North Carolina Health Research Program.

Arkansas’s expansion of Medicaid in 2014 has helped it fare better than most neighboring states in avoiding the closing of rural hospitals, but the May 2019 closure of De Queen Medical Center shows that Arkansas is not immune to the financial constraints facing rural hospitals in the region.

Crittenden Regional Hospital in West Memphis closed in September 2014, but because of its proximity to Memphis it was not considered a rural hospital.