Johnson City Medical Center, a flagship hospital for Ballad Health, has received a rating of one star out of five from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.(Brett Kelman/KFF Health News)

Rural Tennessee lost hundreds of independent physicians over a four-year period as the overall number of doctors serving patients shrank at the same time corporate consolidation swallowed standalone medical practices, a study from a physician advocacy group found.

Between 2019 and 2024, patients in rural Tennessee lost access to 362 independent doctors and 344 independent medical practices, the report commissioned by the Physicians Advocacy Institute found.

Some of those doctors simply ceased practicing in rural areas, while others became employees of larger healthcare systems.

Tennessee, like

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