Hospital goes bankrupt

When thinking about bankruptcy, I never gave much thought to the possibility of hospitals going bankrupt and how that would affect the people who rely on such hospital. What happens when small towns who rely on a hospital, lose that hospital because of Bankruptcy? I would think that even after bankruptcy the hospital would remain open until a possible solution is found, because at the end of the day, results in losing services that could potentially save a human live.

Nonetheless, contrary to what I thought, I found an article on North Berkshire, a hospital in Massachusets. Berkshire is a small county with a population of less than 140,000 people. North Berkshire Hospital, although not clear in the article, appears to be the only hospital servicing Berkshire County. And after filing for bankruptcy, due to the high costs of continuing operations, the hospital was forced to close its doors. As a result, people protested to reopen it, because of the need to have at least an emergency room in the county. Finally, soon after Judge Henry J. Boroff, presiding over the Chapter 7 liquidation filing of Northern Berkshire Healthcare and creditors, agreed that reopening the emergency services was a priority. 

While it is understandable that companies have to close after declaring bankruptcy, shouldn't there be exceptions for necessary services such as a hospital. After all, if there is no hospital and a person is in a deadly car accident and need immediate care, if that person has to drive to another county, isn't that risking a human live at the cost of money? Hospitals are needed, bankruptcy should not be a reason why a county stops providing healthcare to its population. I think that when society is affected much like in this instance, an exception should exist. Human lives should be a priority. 

Source: http://www.iberkshires.com/story/46196/Bankruptcy-Court-Makes-Emergency-Services-A-Priority.html