Rep. Byrne in Atmore to discuss rural hospital issues

ATMORE, Ala. (WPMI) — Rep. Bradley Byrne visits Atmore Community Hospital Tuesday to address challenges rural hospitals face.

Byrne says one of the most serious issues facing Alabama is the closure of rural hospitals and the medicare wage index.

Since 2011, eleven hospitals closed in Alabama, and another dozen are in danger of closing in the next 2 years.

He says one of the big issues driving the problem is that Alabama has the lowest medicare reimbursement rate in the country.

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