Answer questions with below article:

1. Explain why you chose the specific article. How is it relevant to the current health care landscape?
2. Discuss the current event from the perspective of a health care administrator.
3. Document your thoughts on the article. Do you agree with it? What do you feel could/should have been done differently?
4. How does this current event relate to what you have learned this week? Use the following to assist you.
   1. What types of waste do you observe in your current work space?
   2. What steps might be taken to reduce waste in your work space?
   3. What impact does waste play in the industry's success in lowering costs and improving health outcomes?

Mississippi at risk of losing over half of its rural hospitals Associated Press Mississippi State Capitol Building State health officer Dr. Daniel Edney said 54% of the state's rural hospitals could close. The potential closures threaten to exacerbate poor health outcomes. Over half of Mississippi's rural hospitals are at risk of closing immediately or in the near future, according to the state's leading public health official.Dr. Daniel Edney, the state health officer, spoke to state senators at a hearing Monday about the financial pressure on Mississippi hospitals. Edney said 54% of the state's rural hospitals 38 could close. The potential closures threaten to exacerbate poor health outcomes in one of the nation's poorest states. \"That is a situation that is intolerable from an economic standpoint to lose 54% of our hospitals in the state much less from an access to care perspective,\" Edney said. Rural hospitals were under economic strain before the COVlD-19 pandemic, and the problems have worsened as costs to provide care have increased. Mississippi's high number of low-income uninsured people means hospitals are on the hook for more uncompensated care. At the same time, labor costs weigh on hospitals as they struggle to pay competitive wages to retain staff. \"The costs on an income statement for a hospital have skyrocketed," said Scott Christensen, chairn of the Mississippi Hospital Association Board of Governors. \"The liabilities on the balance sheets of hospitals around the state have reached some unsustainable levels given what we face." Not a Modern Healthcare subscriber? Sign up today. The crux of the problem facing Mississippi's hospitals is that revenues have not kept pace with rising costs, Christensen said. The strain is most acute in Mississippi's Delta region, an agricultural flatland where poverty remains entrenched. Greenwood Leore Hospital has been cutting costs by reducing services and shrinking its workforce for months. But the medical facility hasn't been able to stave off the risk of imminent closure. Hospital leaders say they will be out of business before the end of the year without a cash infusion. At Greenwood Leflore and other hospitals around the state, maternity care units have been on the chopping block. Mississippi already has the nation's highest fetal mortality rate, highest infant mortality rate and highest pre-term birth rate, and is among the worst states for maternal mortality. About 60% of births in Mississippi in 2020 were financed by Medicaid, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. A rising number of healthcare deserts are emerging in the Delta, but financial pressures are bearing down on hospitals in more prosperous areas of the state, as well, experts at the hearing said. But hospitals in poor communities often treat patients who don't have insurance and can't afford to pay for care out of pocket. An expansion of Medicaid coverage would reduce costs that result from uncompensated care. Gov. Tate Reeves and other Republican leaders have killed proposals to expand Medicaid, which primarily covers low-income workers whose jobs don't provide private health insurance. Opponents of expansion say they don't want to encourage reliance on government help for people who don't need it. Download Modern Healthcare's app to stay informed when industry news breaks. As a near-term solution, the Mississippi Hospital Association has suggested the state's Division of Medicaid work with federal officials to raise the Medicaid reimbursement rate cap to a higher level. The move would lower the cost of providing care for people who are already covered under the state's current Medicaid plan. Democratic Sen. Hob Bryan, who convened the hearing, said the financial outlook for Mississippi's hospitals is a \"market failure\" that warrants full-time attention. \"What we need is somebody, somewhere in state government, who is charged with figuring what we want healthcare to look like now and five and 10 years down the road," Bryan said. \"Unless I'm terribly confused, there is nobody in your state government that has that charge.\