Shore Regional Health officials presented troubling statistics for rural hospitals at the Caroline County Commissioners meeting Tuesday. According to Shore Regional President Ken Kozel, 191 rural hospitals have closed or converted their facilities nationwide since 2005, and 36 rural hospital have closed since 2020.
Kozel mentioned the state and federal government are working together on a new payment model that he said will help the state maintain rural health care. The payment model is called the AHEAD model.