As rural healthcare continues to face cross-winds from workforce fulfillment challenges, anticipated Medicaid cuts and revenue cycle issues, hospital leaders are confronting problems that know no ZIP code boundaries.
In Arcata, Calif., Mad River Community Hospital’s COO Matt Anderson told Becker’s May 21 that the hospital was forced to lay off around eight to 10 employees in March to ensure long-term sustainability.
While many hospitals and systems are leaning into outsourcing to address financial challenges, Mad River has partnered with Ovation Healthcare and is “insourcing” approximately 30 hospital employees to work on specific revenue cycle functions.
“I’ll be very candid, rural healthcare is under attack,” Mr. Anderson said. “You look at some of these Medicaid cuts in rural communities, and it already makes things much more difficult for us. As administrators, [we] are put in a very difficult position, where oftentimes some very difficult decisions have to be made to ensure that we can continue to deliver service to our communities.”
Mr. Anderson said while cuts and changes are not favorable, the end goal is to grow and sustain the hospital.
In Minnesota, Madelia Health CEO David Walz told Becker’s the 25-bed critical access hospital’s pockets are running dry, having survived on negative days cash on hand for over two years.
Madelia Health has been operating on a line of credit since Mr. Walz arrived at the hospital more than three years ago. He pointed to challenges like slow Medicare reimbursement, unfavorable payer contracts and the closure of UCare in Minnesota, which left outstanding payments to Madelia that have not been received.
“We conserve cash to ensure we have enough for payroll,” Mr. Walz said. “The day we can’t, then it’s over. … [The employees] are doing their part. They’re seeing patients, they’re taking care of what they’re supposed to do, so I’ve got to ensure that I’m doing my part to make sure they get a paycheck, because they have mortgages and some of them have families to feed.”
Mr. Walz said Madelia is not looking for a hand out, but a “hand up.” To that end, the hospital is pursuing relief options like a recently passed state legislative measure that allocates $115 million to rural healthcare. The hospital has also applied for funds from the federal rural health stabilization program, floated a potential city bond and raised funds from the community through the Madelia Health Foundation.
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