These Valley hospitals are considered at risk due to Medicaid cuts

President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” might make health care not so beautiful in the Valley in the near future, according to a new report by nonprofit consumer advocacy organization Public Citizen.

The nonprofit flagged six Phoenix-area hospitals as being at risk of closure, laying off staff or reducing medical services because of $911 billion in cuts to Medicaid and its equivalent for children, the Children’s Health Insurance Plan. The cuts were included in the Republican-led legislation, which successfully wound its way through Congress to the president’s desk last year. The cuts have a 10-year term. 

Public Citizen analyzed data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and found 446 at-risk hospitals nationwide. Of the eight in Arizona, six were in the Valley. Approximately 1.15 million residents enrolled in Medicaid as of April 1 live in Maricopa and Pinal counties, according to data published by Arizona’s Medicaid agency, the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System.

To be considered “at risk,” the hospitals had to receive 20% or more of their revenue from Medicaid, CHIP and other low-income medical programs over 2022 to 2024, which was the latest data available. The hospitals also couldn’t be profitable during that same time period.

The six Valley hospitals at risk are: 

• Dignity Health’s Arizona General Hospital in Laveen and Mesa
• Valleywise Health Medical Center in Phoenix
• Abrazo Central Campus in Phoenix
• Banner Goldfield Medical Center in Apache Junction
• HonorHealth Tempe Medical Center (formerly Tempe St. Luke’s Hospital) 
• HonorHealth Four Peaks Medical Center (formerly Mountain Vista Medical Center) in Mesa

Two of the five hospital systems responsible for the six at-risk hospitals responded to requests for comment.

Banner Health, which runs the Banner Goldfield Medical Center in Apache Junction, said in an emailed statement that its hospital system is financially strong and the facility is not at risk of closure. However, it acknowledged that cuts to Medicaid will strain its system. 

“Cuts to Medicaid don’t just reduce coverage, they shift the financial burden onto nonprofit systems already operating on thin margins,” the statement read. “These policy changes would result in higher numbers of uninsured patients and reduced hospital reimbursement, making it more challenging for healthcare providers to meet community needs.”