Report: KY's Rural Hospitals Struggling

Nearly one quarter of Kentucky's 66 rural hospitals are in danger of closing according to one of the first broad examinations of the financial health of the state's medical system.

Democratic Auditor Adam Edelen identified 15 rural hospitals that are in poor financial health. Overall, 68 percent of the hospitals fell below the national average in assessed financial strength. Those hospitals treated 838,000 patients last year.

Fourteen hospitals did not participate in the audit. Edelen said the report is not a rebuke of the state's Medicaid managed care system or Gov. Steve Beshear's decision to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. The review did not include numbers from 2014, the first year of the state's expanded Medicaid program, because the audited numbers were not available yet.