An unused gurney rests in the emergency room hallway outside one of the treatment rooms at the Alliance Healthcare System hospital in Holly Springs, Miss., Feb. 29, 2024. Rural emergency hospitals are starting to gain a small foothold in the United States. They provide 24/7 emergency care and receive more than $3 million in federal money a year. But the catch is there are zero inpatient beds at the facilities. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Alliance Healthcare System hospital Environmental Service Manager Ardency Baird walks along one of the empty corridors of the Holly Springs, Miss., facility Feb. 29, 2024. One of the requirements to be approved as a rural emergency hospital is the closing of all inpatient beds and providing 24/7 emergency care. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
After transitioning to a rural emergency hospital, patients can only enter the Alliance Healthcare System hospital in Holly Springs, Miss., through the emergency room and the small admittance office at the side, photographed Feb. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Unused equipment is stored in one of the shut-down floors of the Alliance Healthcare System hospital in Holly Springs, Miss., on Feb. 29, 2024. One of the requirements to be approved as a rural emergency hospital is the closing of all inpatient beds and providing 24/7 emergency care. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
One of the empty beds in the Alliance Healthcare System hospital in Holly Springs, Miss., is seen on Feb. 29, 2024. The medical facility was initially approved by the federal government as a rural emergency hospital in March, 2023, requiring closing all inpatient beds and providing 24/7 emergency care. However, they have been denied the status and must now transition back to a full-service hospital. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Britney Johnson, the laboratory manager at the Alliance Healthcare System hospital in Holly Springs, Miss., runs tests, Feb. 29, 2024. The medical facility was initially approved by the federal government as a rural emergency hospital in March, 2023, requiring closing all inpatient beds and providing 24/7 emergency care. However, they have been denied the status and must now transition back to a full-service hospital. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Alliance Healthcare System hospital Environmental Service Manager Ardency Baird checks on empty hospital beds in one of the shut-down floors of the Holly Springs, Miss., facility Feb. 29, 2024. One of the requirements to be approved as a rural emergency hospital is the closing of all inpatient beds and providing 24/7 emergency care. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Medical diagrams line the hallway of one of the wings of the Alliance Healthcare System hospital in the Holly Springs, Miss., as photographed Feb. 29, 2024. The medical facility was initially approved by the federal government as a rural emergency hospital in March, 2023, requiring closing all inpatient beds and providing 24/7 emergency care. However, they have been denied that status and must now transition back to a full-service hospital. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Alliance Healthcare System hospital CEO Dr. Kenneth Williams, said Feb. 29, 2024, that after the Holly Springs, Miss., facility was approved as a rural emergency hospital in March 2023, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services later reneged on its decision saying the hospital is not rural because of its proximity to Memphis, which is less than an hour away. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
The parking lot of the Alliance Healthcare System hospital in the Holly Springs, Miss., is almost empty as seen, Feb. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Unused patient chart folders are boxed up in the Alliance Healthcare System hospital in Holly Springs, Miss., as photographed Feb. 29, 2024. The hospital was required to close all inpatient beds and provide 24/7 emergency care as a rural emergency hospital. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
A sign spells out the rights a medical emergency patient has at the emergency room entrance outside the Alliance Healthcare System hospital in Holly Springs, Miss., Feb. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Unused equipment lines the hallway of the Alliance Healthcare System hospital in Holly Springs, Miss., as photographed Feb. 29, 2024. The medical facility was initially approved by the federal government as a rural emergency hospital in March 2023, requiring closing all inpatient beds and providing 24/7 emergency care. However, they have been denied the status and must now transition back to a full-service hospital. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)