SACRAMENTO, Calif. —

Graham Knaus, the CEO of the California State Association of Counties, is sounding the alarm about the rural hospital risks in the state.

California is at risk of losing several rural hospitals because of financial issues related to both state and federal policies.

"From our perspective, it's completely unacceptable and it was avoidable," Knaus said on California Politics 360.

He noted people in communities such as Inyo, San Benito, parts of Riverside, Modoc and Glenn counties may need to go to larger hospital systems that are hours away.

| RELATED | Watch this week's full episode of California Politics 360 below

"We're just at the beginning," Knaus said, stating the federal health care budget lawmakers recently passed will pull $1 trillion out of the health sy

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