Many people across the country could not receive hospital care in their community when the pandemic began because over 150 rural hospitals had closed between 2005 and 2019. An additional 19 rural hospitals closed in 2020, more than any year in the previous decade. These closures were not caused by the pandemic, but by financial losses in previous years. Ten more rural hospitals closed in 2021 and 2022; the number was smaller than in 2019 because of the special financial as- sistance hospitals received during the pandemic. The pan- demic aid has now ended, so closures are likely to increase