Glen County’s only hospital without Hail Mary will close the door in October.
The rural counties are hidden between two national forests and have a home of 28,000 people. Without a local emergency room, they will travel to nearby counties for intensive care at least 40 minutes. One hundred and fifty health workers will be out of work; they have resigned and seek employment elsewhere.
Following the plan to close Glenn Medical Center, a U.S. Medicare and Medicaid Services decision stripped the hospital of the federal “critical access” name, a status that provides Glenn Medical with increased reimbursement and regulatory flexibility. Without this, the hospital’s $28 million net annual revenue would suffer about 40% hits – a gap, and it’s a gap, in any other way other than closing the hospital.
“It’s heartbreaking for us to come to this point. I still pray for the 11th hour miracle,” still said. “But to be honest, we just need reality, and that’s the hand we’ve been dealt with.”
Exceed In recent monthsStill and her team have been trying to reason with the federal health agency in July with the Federal Health Agency, even flying to Washington, D.C. to try to lobby their case.
The key to the issue is a federal rule, which has just been reinterpreted, requiring key visiting hospitals to be at least 35 miles from the next nearest hospital when traveling on the main road. CMS officials now say the next nearest hospital, Colusa Medical Center, is just 32 miles away, three miles away from the required distance.
Glen Medical Center and county health officials believe that most people and ambulances took different routes, with I-5 reaching Highway 20. The route is 35.7 miles and the distance is the eligible distance.
“We really think that by putting all our stories out there… to all the different people who will be affected by that decision, we really think that is enough information for them [CMS] Still taking into account their decisions and practical considerations. ” Still said. Unfortunately, the only thing that matters is how they measure distance on the road.”
The Fed first notified Glen Healthcare in April that a re-certification review found the hospital was not eligible for the critical visit program. Hospital officials insisted that appeals and communications with the agency would clarify the situation. But in a letter dated August 13, the agency told the hospital that it was based on its initial decision.
“After reviewing other information from the hospital, CMS found that the hospital continued to fail to meet the distance requirements,” the letter read.
The locations of Glenn Medical Center and its neighbors have not changed since Glenn Medical first received a critical visit program for 2001. Calmatters asked federal agencies why it now attempted to revoke hospital designation after having more than 20 years of qualification in the same distance. The agency did not answer the question directly, but in an email, it simply reiterated the requirements for eligibility for the program.
CMS said Glen Medical Center could be converted to another provider type to continue participating in the Medicare program. But it is still said that no other Medicare reimbursement model will pay to hospitals at financially sustainable rates. Under a critical access program, the federal government pays 101% of hospitalization and outpatient services for hospitals, which are provided to Medicare patients.
U.S. Rep. Doug Lamalfa, a Ritchville Republican representing Glen County, said he continued to have a conversation with CMS administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz. He said they spoke last week.
“We won’t give up any stretches; we’ll do our best,” Lamarfa said. “We had a great conversation with Dr. Oz and were looking for a way to make it work because closing is unacceptable. It’s a technical issue where we should find a way to work.”
Lamarfa said he is considering introducing a bill that could update mileage requirements or provide more CMS discretion when evaluating rural hospitals. But it is not clear that there are things you can do before October.
Glen Medical Center and its staff can’t wait for a longer time. The hospital announced it would keep its clinic open, but hospitalization services will cease on October 21. Still saying this is when she expects no longer enough staff to operate.
“We have to start talking to the staff and tell the staff, “Hey, we don’t have a future here. There is still no critical access designation, and there is no viable path for us,” Still said: “At that time, we started getting employees to quit. ”
With the announced closure, most Glen County residents will have to seek emergency services at the hospital in Colusa County or the Enloy Medical Center, located in Chico’s larger Class II Trauma Center.
“We are actively reviewing available resources to ensure we are ready to absorb the expected increase in patients in the Enloe Health emergency room,” Enloe Health wrote in a signature-free statement.
Two ambulances in Glen County will also have to travel further and stay within the county for longer periods, making residents’ emergency resources even more limited.
The announced closure is a reminder of the dangers of unstable rural hospitals in California. Even with the addition of Medicare’s reimbursement, Glenn Medical Center’s annual financial statements also show that hospitals always operate in red.
Two years ago, the state loaned them nearly $300 million by lending them through 17 rural and community hospitals (Glenn Medical is not one of them). The loan plan is largely made Madeira Community Hospital closurewhich also makes the entire county free of emergency services. Following the bankruptcy process, the Madera community is now owned and operated by American Advanced Management, a for-profit company that operates for rescue troubled and closed hospitals. The company also owns the Glenn Medical Center.
“It’s devastating from a personal perspective for our team because we really take pride in being the ones who come in and reopen the hospital.” “When we enter a community, we deliver on the promise we won’t be bailed to the community.”
Ana B.
