Oishei Children's pushes for safety-net status

John R. Oishei Children's Hospital in Buffalo, N.Y., has been trying to become an enhanced safety-net hospital for several years, but just barely misses the criteria, The Buffalo News reported May 3.

The hospital falls short on one part of the criteria: At least 3 percent of its patients need to be uninsured. Less than 1 percent of Oishei patients are uninsured, according to the report.

A bill to add freestanding children's hospitals to the definition of an enhanced safety-net hospital did not get added to the final state budget this spring, but there is still a chance it could go through the legislative process by the end of session in June, according to the report.

The designation of a safety-net hospital would provide protection from Medicaid cuts and give additional funding to the financially struggling hospital. Oishei had an operating loss of $11.5 million in 2021.

"We're at the point where it's not going to be sustainable," Chief Medical Officer Stephen Turkovich, MD, told the Buffalo News. "We need a mechanism, whether it be an enhanced safety-net designation or other safeguards, to make sure that Medicaid funding for children's healthcare is preserved."

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