In 2019, northwest Kansas-based Decatur Health was staring into the possibility of shutting its doors. It got really bad, where we were not sure how we were going to financially be able to make it out through the month, said Chief Operations Officer Kristopher Mathews. I think we were down to double digits of cash, like 10 days of cash on hand.
Like many small rural hospitals, it was financially struggling. Recent studies show around 75 rural hospitals in Kansas are operating at a financial loss and in danger of closing.
Desperate, Mathews became one of the first to look into a new model developed by the Kansas Hospital Association. It s situations like his that spurred KHA in 2012 to begin researching a new, more sustainable way of delivering services in rural areas.