Why rural hospitals close

A large portion of rural hospitals operate at a loss, which causes problems for millions of Americans who need healthcare the most. For Reuters, Sarah Slobin shows the challenging dynamics of rural hospitals with a series of charts and maps.

Nearly 90% of the land in the United States is rural and about one in five people, or some 60 million, live throughout it according to the U.S. Census. Data also show rural residents are older, have worse health outcomes and less health care access than their urban counterparts.