Here are five things to know about the bill.
1. In the legislation, microhospital refers to a hospital comprising two to seven inpatient beds in a rural county. Microhospitals must also provide emergency services 24/7, the bill states.
2. Under House Bill 769, if a hospital is closing or has been closed for less than a year in a rural county with fewer than 50,000 people, it could be bought up by a neighboring hospital and turned into a microhospital.
3. The bill would also allow the purchasing hospital to relocate the closing facility as a microhospital within the same county and a 3-mile radius of the existing facility.
4. The microhospital provision of House Bill 769 is part of a larger effort to improve rural healthcare in Georgia. Other parts of the bill address rural pharmacy practices, credentialing and billing, and the creation of a Rural Health System Innovation Center to serve as a research organization.
5. The bill, which passed Georgia’s Senate March 15, now heads to the House.
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