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American Hospitals Are Disappearing -- and Repealing Obamacare Will Make It Worse

  • Pressure to cut health costs led to closures across the U.S.
  • Obamacare repeal could make it worse, straining their finances
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QuickTake: Obamacare’s Individual Mandate

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The two gleaming operating rooms in this Kingston, New York, hospital still look brand-new seven years after being built for $5 million: They’ve never seen one patient, and never will.

With an occupancy rate of just over 50 percent, the 150-bed hospital, its surgery center and an emergency department renovated in 2011 for $6 million will be closed and retrofitted into what its new owner calls a “medical village” of outpatient services such as physical therapy and behavioral health services.