Towns or regions with only one hospital face potential devastation if that facility should close, according to U.S. News &World Report. Residents in rural areas who lack good health coverage could exacerbate such closures, given that only 35 percent of the nation's hospitals are in rural areas. "Unfortunately, health care remains a commodity that's bought and sold on the open market and it's primarily up to hospitals to determine what the market will bear, There's reason for concern that the trend will escalate," Brian Smedley, Ph.D., a health policy expert with the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, told the newspaper. Read the full report at FierceHealthcare.