Rural, small hospitals were facing economic challenges long before the COVID-19 pandemic captured the world in its grips. During the coronavirus health crisis, much attention was paid to the threat to longevity of such care centers.
In Northwest Ohio, in the small town of Bryan, located in Williams County near Toledo, one small health care provider faces threats of a smaller customer base, and competition from larger entities in Toledo and Ft. Wayne, Ind.
In The Hospital: Life, Death, and Dollars in a Small American Town, journalist and author Brian Alexander details those challenges through two years of deep exploration, embedding himself in Bryan, developing relationships with locals who face significant health crises of their own, and breaking through the typically difficult red tape of telling an honest tale of the American health care system.
With full access to Community Hospital and Wellness Center, Alexander untangles the complicated and troubling system that puts American families on the brink of financial ruin when faced with serious health concerns, and that left the country woefully unprepared for the COVID-19 pandemic, which arrives just as this story ends.
Alexander is celebrating a virtual book launch at the Mercantile Library on Tuesday.
He joins Cincinnati Edition to talk about the book.
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