CMS’ rural emergency hospital designation, a new Medicare provider type, launched on Jan. 1, 2023, to address concerns that rural and critical access hospital closures are reducing access to care for people in rural areas.
The designation aims to curb rural hospital closures by offering them a chance to close infrequently used inpatient beds and focus on outpatient and emergency department services.
In exchange for giving up their expensive inpatient beds and focusing solely on emergency and outpatient care, rural emergency hospitals receive a 5% increase in Medicare payments as well as an average facility fee payment of about $3.2 million a year.
Clifton-Fine has an operating loss of $2 million, according to the report.
“What the rural emergency hospital is going to do for us is really give us a financial federal subsidization funding stream,” CEO Dierdra Sorrell, RN, MSN, told the news outlet. “That [$3.2 million] really helps to make up for the lack of the patients and the inpatient unit.”
The proposed transition could affect a dozen jobs, with any inpatients at Clifton-Fine eventually being moved to Samaritan Medical center in Watertown, N.Y., according to the report. The hospital also plans to add a new emergency room area this year.
“Right now we are 24/7 and a fully functioning emergency department and we take care of anything that walks in the door,” Ms. Sorrell said. “That won’t change. What will change are staffing patterns to include more staff in the emergency department.”
Hospital leaders expect the new designation to take effect in mid-2024.
Becker’s has reached out to Clifton-Fine for comment and will update this story when more information becomes available.
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