During a Dec. 12 meeting, the legislative council’s performance evaluation and expenditure review subcommittee approved the distribution of funds to the hospitals with no dissent or discussion, the publication reported. DeWitt Hospital and Nursing Home will receive over $1.5 million, Chicot Memorial Medical Center in Lake Village over $3.4 million, and North Arkansas Regional Medical Center in Harrison over $1.3 million.
The entire state legislative council is expected to vote on pulling the funds from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 on Dec. 15. Over $1.5 billion was initially given to Arkansas lawmakers to distribute to hospitals in need during the pandemic. Of that, $60 million was set aside for rural hospital emergency relief in August 2022.
Along with 18 other hospitals, the three rural hospitals were evaluated by Alvarez and Marsal, a New York-based consulting firm, to see if they met the requirements to receive ARPA funds.
With just over 52 days of cash on hand, DeWitt reported experiencing a decrease in patient admissions and low occupancy rates, according to a February consultant evaluation provided to lawmakers from the firm. Chicot Memorial also reported experiencing continued patient volume decreases, with increases in labor costs and hiring challenges. Lastly, North Arkansas Regional saw a reported $5.9 million in losses after the pandemic, which was directly related to an increase in supply and labor costs, along with a decrease in revenues and reimbursements.
So far, five of the 18 eligible hospitals have not requested funding.
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