The state’s Rural Health Transformation program is taking shape, and Newman Regional Health is set to have a significant role going forward.
During the hospital’s Board of Trustees meeting Wednesday, Chief Executive Officer Cathy Pimple announced Newman Regional has been selected to serve as an “Anchor Hospital” in the program. Pimple says the new status indicates the hospital’s strength and role as a regional healthcare leader. She also says the Anchor Hospital designation puts Newman Regional in a position to add resources, develop innovation and strengthen infrastructure.
Kansas received over $220 million over 5 years as part of the Rural Health Transformation program, which was developed as part of the Working Families Tax Cuts package and the One Big Beautiful reconciliation bill passed last year. The overall goal is to expand access, improve health outcomes and strengthen rural health systems by expanding prevention programs, strengthening local access to care, protecting “value-based care,” collecting data and fostering viable rural health employment options.
Newman Regional expects several outcomes as part of this level of participation:
*Regional access to specialty care will increase
*Newman Regional will now be part of statewide governance discussions, thus framing and developing the future of rural healthcare
*Collaboration with KU Med, a strategic partner with Newman Regional, as well as Ascension Via Christi and other statewide systems will increase
*Newman Regional will support surrounding rural hospitals as part of an effort to reinforce healthcare and economic strength regionwide
Pimple says this announcement also underscores local conversations with CareArc; hospitals in Coffey, Greenwood and Morris counties; Emporia State University; Flint Hills Technical College; and others to develop a unified voice.
Financially, February was a mixed bag for the hospital. Inpatient revenue missed budget by almost $272,000, or nearly 12 percent, because a combination of lower-than-budgeted and shorter-than-budgeted patient stays in several categories — acute, rehab and skilled services — also affected corresponding services in imaging, lab and pharmacy. Other patient revenue missed budget by 3 percent, but outpatient revenue was 5 percent above budget and operating expenses were favorable to budget by almost 7 percent. All told, Newman Regional had a net February income of $70,000, ahead of budget by $20,000. However, year-to-date losses are at $560,000 compared to a budgeted loss of $361,000.
