On July 25, 2025, the Daily Mail published an article listing over 300 hospitals at risk of closing due to Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), which passed earlier this month. [1] The law includes a $1 trillion cut to Medicaid, with the Trump administration and its allies claiming that the reductions are intended to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse. [2] Among the hospitals designated as at-risk—according to both the media and a letter sent by Democratic Senators to President Trump [3] [4] —are several operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church: Adventist Health St. Helena, Adventist Health Reedley, Adventist Health Ukiah Valley, Adventist Health Tehachapi Valley, and Adventist Health Clearlake, all located in California, along with AdventHealth Manchester in Kentucky.
As shown in the video above, both Adventist Health and AdventHealth are part of the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist health initiative, a fact reaffirmed by their joint declaration during the 62nd General Conference Session. Even Adventist hospitals not listed in this report will face severe shortages, so we must not assume that our other healthcare programs will remain unaffected.
The Daily Mail explained why our churches are now at risk, citing the financial impact of recent policy changes.
• “More than 300 hospitals across the US are at risk of closure under deep healthcare cuts in President Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill.” [4]
• “Some 338 facilities in rural areas could be forced to close, convert, or slash services, according to the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research.” [4]
• “The act slashes over $1 trillion in healthcare spending over the next 10 years, mostly from Medicaid, which provides health coverage for millions of low-income Americans.” [4]
• “Alongside Medicaid cuts, the bill will also cut from Affordable Care Act insurance plans and eliminate insurance coverage for 11.8 million people over the next decade, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.” [4]
• “A rural hospital is labeled ‘at risk’ when it meets one or both of two criteria. It needs to either be in the top 10 percent Medicaid payer mix of rural hospitals across the country, or have experienced three consecutive years of negative total margin.” [4]
• “Adventist Health St. Helena” [4]
• “Adventist Health Reedley” [4]
• “Adventist Health Ukiah Valley” [4]
• “Adventist Health Tehachapi Valley” [4]
• “Adventist Health Clearlake” [4]
• “AdventHealth Manchester” [4]
Why are Adventist hospitals at risk? Simply put, Adventist hospitals are at risk because they have become increasingly dependent on federal funding—particularly through subsidies like Medicaid—for their survival. Many of these hospitals have been identified as part of the “top 10 percent Medicaid payer mix,” meaning a significant portion of their patients rely on Medicaid for healthcare. Being in this category signals financial vulnerability, especially when Medicaid funding is cut.
This crisis has been exacerbated by sweeping reductions to Medicaid, including the $1 trillion cut proposed under Donald Trump’s administration. While the administration claimed the cuts were designed to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse, the real-world effects will be devastating—especially for rural hospitals already operating on the brink.
The current system itself is broken and unjust—favoring some while punishing others. In places like California, non-citizens often receive free emergency care, surgeries, and rehabilitation, with the costs later shifted to taxpayers. Meanwhile, struggling citizens are still expected to pay out of pocket. This unsustainable business model has made hospitals even more reliant on government programs like Medicaid. The Trump administration sees this dependency as a misuse of public funds and is attempting to rein it in. However, in doing so, hospitals—including Adventist ones—face increased financial instability.
We’ve seen a similar pattern before. When U.S. foreign aid was abruptly canceled, many nonprofit organizations—including ADRA—were immediately affected. This wasn’t just a budget cut; it revealed a structural problem: a growing dependence on funding sources that church institutions neither control nor can rely on. For mission-driven organizations, this should serve as a serious warning. Relying on the state for operational survival is risky and fundamentally unsound. Government priorities shift with political tides, and what is funded today can easily be defunded tomorrow.
Faith-based institutions that become financially dependent on the state also become vulnerable to state pressure and compromise. We saw this play out during the COVID-19 crisis. Accepting government money often comes with strings attached—and ultimately, ideological unity. Over time, those “conditions” can turn into constraints that shape mission, silence our divine message, and shift focus away from God’s truth.
Adventist institutions must confront a stark but clear choice: remain financially independent and faithful to God’s calling, or pursue institutional survival at the cost of spiritual and mission integrity. Faith must lead our institutions—not financial entanglements with shifting political agendas.
Sources
[2] https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/01/how-trump-bill-medicaid-cuts-will-impact-us-health-care.html
[3]https://www.markey.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/letter_on_rural_hospitals.pdf
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I for one would be quite happy to see all of those hospitals, and in fact the entire AdventHealth structure, shut down, or at least our name taken off of them. They are an embarrassment to the cause of Christ. Can you name anybody that has come to the Lord by entering one of our large Seventh-day Adventist hospitals?
I don’t particularly care if they get taken down or get bought out. Cue even more dirty linen being exposed surrounding the haughty General Conference (“GC”). People need to know what kind of “arrangements” the GC has been involved in. Glad to not have membership in the GC anymore. God is judging them as He did during their abysmal performance during the Covid scamdemic.
Didn’t know this. Six hospitals. Who really knew this? A sad day for Adventist health services.
Six at risk to close, others impacted by major cuts.
“”Come out from among them, and be ye separate.” Shall we hear the voice of God and obey, or shall we make halfway work of the matter, and try to serve God and Mammon? There is earnest work before each one of us. Right thoughts, pure and holy purposes, do not come to us naturally. We shall have to strive for them. In all our institutions, our publishing houses and colleges and sanitariums, pure and holy principles must take root. If our institutions are what God designs they should be, those connected with them will not pattern after worldly institutions. They will stand as peculiar, governed and controlled by the Bible standard. They will not come into harmony with the principles of the world in order to gain patronage. No motives will have sufficient force to move them from the straight line of duty. Those who are under the control of the Spirit of God will not seek their own pleasure or amusement. If Christ presides in the hearts of the members of his church, they will answer to the call, “Come out from among them, and be ye separate.” “Be not partakers of her sins.”” RH February 1, 1906, par. 11
Excelente reporte, las instituciones adventistas no beben fundamentarse en dinero de los gobiernos. Siga adelante hermano.
We can only hope all the SDA hospitals close with the closing of them the church rediscovers the true health message.
Very true. Get back to the blueprint.
It is clear that outpost centers are needed as we come nearer and nearer to the 2nd coming of Jesus.. Our little church has been saving and collecting funds in order to start an outpost/lifestyle center in the PNW..
God bless as you follow inspired counsel.