{"id":1943991,"date":"2024-11-27T13:15:10","date_gmt":"2024-11-27T18:15:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kffhealthnews.org\/?page_id=1943991"},"modified":"2025-06-03T10:20:01","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T14:20:01","slug":"the-only-hospital-in-town","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/kffhealthnews.org\/the-only-hospital-in-town\/","title":{"rendered":"The Only Hospital in Town"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The Only Hospital in Town<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tSix Years Into an Appalachia Hospital Monopoly, Patients Are Fearful and Furious\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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December 6, 2024<\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t

Ballad Health, with the largest state-sanctioned hospital monopoly in the nation, has failed for years to meet many quality-of-care goals, leaving some patients afraid of their local hospitals but with no other nearby options.<\/p>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tBallad Health\u2019s Hospital Monopoly Underperformed. Then Tennessee Lowered the Bar.\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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June 3, 2025<\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t

Ballad Health, a state-sanctioned hospital monopoly in Tennessee and Virginia, can now be deemed a \u201cclear and convincing\u201d benefit to the public with performance that would earn a \u201cD\u201d on most grading scales, according to Tennessee state documents.<\/p>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThese Appalachia Hospitals Made Big Promises to Gain a Monopoly. They\u2019re Failing to Deliver.\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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September 29, 2023<\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t

Ballad Health, the only hospital system across a large swath of Tennessee and Virginia, has fallen short of quality-of-care and charity care obligations \u2014 even as it\u2019s sued thousands of patients for unpaid bills.<\/p>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t

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