The federal moratorium that prohibited the expansion and growth of Long Term Acute Care Hospitals, or LTACHs, expired on Sept. 30, 2017, opening the door for LTACHs to serve an increased role in the care continuum.
“We applaud this outcome,” said Jim Kendrick, President and CEO for Community Hospital Corporation (CHC). “Many communities currently have accumulated unmet medical needs because they were formerly unable to consider this important level of post-acute care. With the LTACH moratorium lifted, there is opportunity for the expansion of LTACH beds and the growth of new facilities.”
“We advocate on behalf of LTACHs and the ability to serve patients with complex medical needs, many of whom are on ventilators, have gone through a great deal of trauma, and require extended hospitalization of 25 days or more,” said April Myers, Senior Vice President of Post-Acute Operations for CHC. “Our approach to care facilitates healing and optimal recovery.”
CHC’s expertise includes LTACH development and current ownership of 11 LTACHs in North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky and Texas, and the management of a facility in Jonesboro, Arkansas. CHC offers a unique model that allows for flexibility in arrangements to best meet the needs of the local market while providing benefits to the host hospital.
Generally located within a larger host hospital or in a nearby building, LTACHs bridge recovery, often after an acute-care hospital intensive care stay. LTACHs use highly skilled, multidisciplinary clinical teams that include doctors, nurses, pharmacists, therapists, radiologists and dietitians that formulate and implement a customized medical and therapeutic recovery plan for each patient.
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