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January is a time filled with hope as we look ahead to the new year, but it’s important to reflect on the past so we don’t repeat the same mistakes. Jan. 3, 2024, marked the one-year anniversary of the closure of Madera Community Hospital. As the only general acute care hospital in Madera County, its closure drew attention to the significant financial challenges that most California hospitals face. Before Madera’s closure, many elected officials wrongly believed hospitals were flush with money and too big to fail, but the reality is that an estimated one in five California hospitals is at risk of closure, which means greater difficulty for patients to access health care.

What happened to Madera Community Hospital could happen elsewhere as hospitals in California continue to face major challenges, including: 

This post has been archived and contains information that may be out of date.

As the Hospital Council team looks back on everything our hospital members have accomplished this past year, the first thing that comes to mind is the word resilience. Unfortunately, we started the year with the closure of Madera Community Hospital on Jan. 3, which drew attention to the significant financial challenges that hospitals face in California. Before Madera’s closure, many elected officials wrongly believed hospitals were flush with money and too big to fail, but the reality is over half of California’s hospitals have negative margins.