A dozen Pennsylvania hospitals are at risk of closure or downsizing because of impending Medicaid cuts that are expected to squeeze their finances, according to an analysis from a progressive advocacy group.
Nationwide, the nonprofit Public Citizen identified 446 hospitals that could be under threat because of their budget shortfalls and heavy dependence on government programs to pay them for services. Collectively, these facilities treated more than 6.6 million people in 2024, many of them in rural and high-poverty communities.
The Pennsylvania hospitals listed as at-risk are concentrated around Philadelphia and in the southwestern corner of the state, although there is one in Erie and another in rural Clinton County.
Spokespeople for several of the health systems pushed back on the Public Citizen analysis, saying it was based on flawed assumptions or outdated information. However, others acknowledged the financial headwinds hospitals are enduring, even as they remain committed working in their communities.
“The Public Citizen report reflects the broader national challenges facing hospitals, where reimbursement rates often do not keep pace with the rising cost of delivering care — particularly for those serving the most vulnerable,” wrote a spokesperson for Prime Healthcare, a system that includes three Pennsylvania facilities listed in the report.
On top of that, the 2025 passage of President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful” bill will trigger a cascade of Medicaid changes anticipated to push millions of people off the program and slash billions in federal health spending, the advocates say.
These provisions haven’t yet taken effect, but some hospitals have preemptively been laying off employees or cutting specific services, according to the report’s authors. Health centers in California and New York, among others, pointed to the looming cuts as they announced layoffs and furloughs in early 2026.
Public Citizen identified a hospital as at risk if it was running on negative margins from 2022 to 2024 and if more than a fifth of its patient revenues came from Medicaid or other public benefit programs over that timeframe.
What are Pennsylvania hospitals saying?
The Pennsylvania hospitals that Public Citizen identified as at-risk are
- UPMC McKeesport in Allegheny County;
- UPMC Greene in Greene County;
- UPMC Mercy in Pittsburgh;
- Roxborough Memorial Hospital in Philadelphia;
- Suburban Community Hospital in Montgomery County;
- Lower Bucks Hospital in Bucks County;
- LECOM Medical Center in Erie;
- Nazareth Hospital in Philadelphia;
- Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital in Delaware County;
- Penn Highlands Connellsville in Fayette County;
- Valley Forge Medical Center in Montgomery County, and
- Bucktail Medical Center in Clinton County
A spokesperson for UPMC, which owns three of these facilities, said the Public Citizen findings are “based on a highly suspect and flawed analysis” that considers each hospital as a standalone unit while overlooking UPMC’s collective might.
“UPMC’s ‘systemness’ allows each of our 40+ hospitals to leverage systemwide resources, systemwide infrastructure and systemwide expertise to help ensure their long-term stability,” said Paul Wood, UPMC’s vice president and chief communications officer.
Executives at LECOM Medical Center also criticized the analysis and said their Erie facility is not at risk of closure.
“The Public Citizen report in question was compiled without any outreach to LECOM Medical Center and relies on data tied to the hospital’s former name, Millcreek Community Hospital,” spokesperson Adam Ladaika said in a statement.
Others said the report is calling attention to the hardships the nation’s hospitals face.
A spokesperson for Prime Healthcare, which is affiliated with three listed facilities, wrote in an email that their hospitals “remain committed to providing high-quality, compassionate care and ensuring continued access to essential services for the community.”
Still, spokesperson Michelle Aliprantis continued, “changes to Medicaid and other reimbursement programs remain critical to maintaining access for patients.”
Leaders at Penn Highlands Healthcare, which owns the hospital in Fayette County, are recruiting doctors and providers and adding and adjusting services to expand the network, according to a spokesperson.
“While the health system is committed to helping serve the community health needs, rural healthcare is at a crossroads, and rural health systems like Penn Highlands need additional funding and support from local, state and federal government to continue to provide care,” Joy Weidel, a health system spokesperson, said in a statement.
USA TODAY Network Pennsylvania reached out to the remaining hospitals on the list and did not receive responses.
