A hospital in Georgia has announced it will close in October due to financial difficulties officials say was exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.
“It has become increasingly difficult for small, critical access hospitals to survive in rural areas across the country and here in Georgia,” Southwest Georgia Regional Medical Center CEO Kim Gilman said Friday in a news release announcing the hospital’s closure.
The Randolph County Hospital Authority, which oversees the hospital, unanimously voted in favor of the move, WFXL-TV reported. “Within a few months, our financial situation would be such that we would not be able to make payroll,” news outlets quote Steve Whatley, chairman of the hospital authority, as saying.
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