New US hospitals face fiscal crisis over COVID relief money

By JAY REEVES
Associated Press

THOMASVILLE, Ala. (AP) — A handful of U.S. hospitals are facing 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 say they’re not getting as much assistance as other hospitals because they’re so new they can’t prove financial losses from before the pandemic. In rural southwest Alabama, Thomasville Regional Medical Center 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.