PHILIPPI — After the Senate passage of President Donald Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill” on Monday, many healthcare officials in West Virginia are concerned about the future of certain rural hospitals.

Seven rural hospitals in the Mountain State — including Broaddus Hospital in Philippi — are named in a report as possibly being at risk of closing due to the bill’s federal spending cuts.

The other six “at risk” West Virginia hospitals include Grafton City Hospital, Jackson General Hospital in Ripley, Logan Regional Medical Center, Minnie Hamilton Health Care Center in Grantsville, Montgomery General Hospital and Welch Community Hospital.

The report, compiled by the Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina, was quoted in a June 12 letter sent to President Trump, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and Majority Leader John Thune, asking that the bill be altered.

“These cuts will have devastating consequences for health outcomes and costs, jobs, and the economic success of rural communities,” the letter stated. “Today, we write to provide you with detailed information about rural hospitals that are uniquely at risk of financial distress and even closure, conversion, or service reductions because of the cuts in the House-passed reconciliation package.”

“In West Virginia, nearly a quarter of rural hospitals are serving high concentrations of Medicaid patients, and 15 percent of rural hospitals are at the highest relative risk of financial distress, per the financial distress index,” states the letter, which was signed by U.S. Senators Edward Markey, Jeff Merkley, Chuck Schumer and Ron Wyden.

A June 17 letter from the West Virginia Hospital Association asked U.S. senators to vote against the bill to “ensure the Medicaid program remains a critically important source of coverage for more than 500,000 West Virginians, as well as providing predictable funding forWest Virginia’s hospitals that serve every citizen.”

The letter was sent to West Virginia Senators Shelley Moore Capito and Jim Justice, both of whom voted in favor of the bill Monday.