US Senator Jerry Moran has introduced legislation he says will help rural hospitals stay open.
Moran and Minnesota Senator Tina Smith have been working to expand access to federal resources under the Rural Emergency Hospital Medicare designation through the Rural Emergency Hospital Improvement Act, increasing opportunities for Critical Access Hospitals like Newman Regional Health and other rural hospitals to convert to the Rural Emergency Hospital designation.
Under the current structure, REH facilities can stay open with limited services instead of closing. The Improvement Act would let previously-closed hospitals reopen and apply for REH designation if they meet eligibility requirements between 2015-2020. It lets the Secretary of Health and Human Services create a waiver program for facilities already operating in a similar way to an Rural Emergency Hospital so they can officially convert to an REH. Meanwhile, REH facilities can maintain or create units for inpatient psychiatric care, obstetric care and limited inpatient rehab services. Also, it allows REH facilities to revert back to Critical Access status — but only if the hospital was already designated as a necessary provider before it became an REH.
Moran says expanding access through these measures is “a common-sense way to make certain more hospitals stay open.”
KVOE News has reached out to Newman Regional Health for comment.
