Sanders points to Nebraska medical center closure after GOP bill passes: 'Dark day for rural America'

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said the Thursday passage of the GOP's spending bill symbolizes a “dark day for rural America,” citing cuts to federal funding for medical centers and hospitals in rural and more remote areas.

“While Republicans celebrate the passage of the largest Medicaid cut in history, the Curtis Medical Center in Nebraska announced it will shut down as a result of these horrific cuts — the first of many hospitals to close,” Sanders wrote in a Thursday statement on the social platform X.

“This is a dark day for rural America and for our country,” he added.

An hour prior, Community Hospital in McCook, Neb., announced its closure.

“Unfortunately, the current financial environment, driven by anticipated federal budget cuts to Medicaid, has made it impossible for us to continue operating all of our services, many of which have faced significant financial challenges for years,” Troy Bruntz, president and CEO of Community Hospital, said in a news release, according to Nebraska Public Media.

Six of the state’s hospitals could be forced to close due to provisions in the “big, beautiful bill.”

“We currently have six hospitals that we feel are in a critical financial state, three that are in an impending kind of closure or conversion over to the rural emergency hospital model,” Jed Hansen, executive director for the Nebraska Rural Health Association, said during a meeting this week, as reported by Nebraska Public Media.

“We would likely see the closures within a year to two years of once [the bill is] fully enacted.”

Other states are facing similar shutdowns due to reduced funding under the Republican-backed bill approved by Congress. 

A total of 760 hospitals are at risk of closure nationwide, according to Becker's Hospital Review.

Fifteen hospitals in New York are also at risk of closure in GOP districts, according to the Fiscal Policy Institute. 

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