Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United States.
Front Public Health. 2024 Aug 13;12:1415033. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1415033. eCollection 2024.
A concerning number of hospitals have closed in the US in recent years and there are many other hospitals that are at significant risk of closure in the coming years. The COVID-19 pandemic magnified the trend of hospital closures, raising further concerns about the potential impacts of hospital closures and the important need for devising policies that can mitigate them. To devise such policies, however, we first need to better understand the main drivers, potential adaptations by providers, and the widespread public impacts of hospital closures. We also need to recognize various changes in care delivery modes and related practices. Understanding these complex issues can allow policymakers to shift their focus from the narrow scope of "access to care," and instead take into account various other consequences of hospital closures that are currently largely overlooked but need to be part of policy discussions.
近年来，美国有相当数量的医院关闭，还有许多其他医院在未来几年有很大的关闭风险。COVID-19 大流行加剧了医院关闭的趋势，进一步引发了对医院关闭潜在影响以及制定可以减轻这些影响的政策的重要性的关注。然而，要制定这样的政策，我们首先需要更好地了解主要驱动因素、提供者的潜在适应能力以及医院关闭对公众的广泛影响。我们还需要认识到医疗服务模式和相关实践的各种变化。了解这些复杂问题可以使政策制定者将重点从“获得医疗服务”的狭隘范围转移，转而考虑目前在很大程度上被忽视但需要成为政策讨论一部分的医院关闭的各种其他后果。
