She voted for Trump in 2016. Now, his threat of hospital closures puts her & her grandkids at risk

After Trump signed his “One Big Beautiful Bill,” millions of Americans are at risk of being cut from Medicaid, and those cuts could result in rural hospital closures across the country.

Potential rural hospital closures loom after congressional Republicans and President Trump passed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” and one Globe woman who voted for him in 2016 is worried about what it means for her health care, and the health care of her three grandchildren.

Kim Jones, 51, has lived in Globe her whole life. Cobre Valley Regional Medical Center, the only hospital in town, is at risk of closing due to Republican Medicaid cuts.

Globe sits about 80 miles east of Phoenix, and roughly 7,000 people in the town rely on Cobre Valley for their health care.

The bill, which Trump signed on July 4, cuts federal health spending by around $1 trillion over the next decade, and will drop roughly 12 million Americans from their health coverage, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

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“I was born in that hospital,” Jones said, adding that Cobre Valley has been a part of her life as she grew up, as her daughter grew up, and as her grandchildren are growing up.

Cobre Valley Regional Medical Center is one of five Arizona hospitals that are at risk of closing now that Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” has become law.

That’s because it’s one of the top rural health providers for Medicaid patients in the country. And the Medicaid cuts in Trump’s bill mean less money to hospitals, making it difficult to keep the doors open.

If Cobre Valley were to close as predicted, it would be the end of one of the only hospitals Jones has ever known.

Jones is on Medicaid and the Housing Choice Voucher Program, the federal program commonly known as “Section 8” that helps lower-income people and families afford housing.

She is also raising her three grandchildren, aged six, seven, and nine. The kids don’t have any major health complications that require constant visits to the local hospital, but they get sick just as often as any other school-aged child.

“Children bring, you know, bacteria and germs and get sick and transfer it to other kids,” Jones said. “It kind of goes down the line.”

She said losing Cobre Valley would mean she’d have to travel to Mesa in order to get care for her and her grandchildren.

Her travel time would go from less than 10 minutes to well over an hour.

“God forbid if something were to happen [to me],” Jones said. “If I would have a stroke or heart attack, then what would I do? Without having a hospital here, it scares me.”

Cobre Valley Regional Medical Center did not immediately respond to a request for comment on how the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” will impact the hospital.

Jones was a Trump supporter—but not anymore

The national Republican Party has trotted out the talking point that cuts to Medicaid mean that able-bodied people who refuse to get a job are the only ones out of luck, and that’s misleading.

What’s more, hospital closures affect every person in a community, not just those who are allegedly taking advantage of the system.

Jones voted for Trump in the 2016 election and did not vote for president in the 2020 or 2024 elections, but in 2024 she was confident that Trump’s return to the presidency could mean good things for working families.

“Everyone was kind of pumped up about Trump getting back into office,” Jones said. “I have two friends, one of them’s 85 and the other is 74 and they are hardcore Trump supporters—and my 85-year-old friend is just completely devastated by [Medicaid cuts].”

The cuts to Medicaid and looming hospital closure have made Jones skeptical of the entire Republican party moving forward.

“I used to think [Trump] was for the people, but after this I am 100% sure he is all for ‘the man,’” Jones said. “He is for him and the rich keep getting richer while the poor keep getting poorer.”

Jones lives on a fixed income of $347 a month, and Trump and Republicans’ bill means families like hers will continue to struggle. Now she has the extra fear that there may be no local hospital when she needs it.

Jones said she views the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” as vindictive against the voters for denying him a second term in 2020.

“I will absolutely vote next election,” she said. “And regardless of who is running against them, I will definitely be voting against [Republicans] because of this.”

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