Another rural Alabama hospital is shutting down, this time in the northeastern part of the state.

Directors have decided to close RMC Jacksonville at the end of June.

The hospital is operated by the Anniston-based RMC Health System, which says some services will be transferred from Jacksonville to other locations in Anniston. The cities are about 12 miles (19 kilometers) apart.

WBMA-TV reports that the announcement confirms the fears of hospital employees and weeks of rumors. The hospital had struggled financially in recent years, and several departments had closed.

The hospital is being donated to Jacksonville State University, which has a nursing program.

Jacksonville is the latest in a string of small towns to lose hospitals in recent years. The Census Bureau estimates the city’s population at around 12,800 people.

(Associated Press, copyright 2018)

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