(Source: MIRS.news, Published 09/22/2022) A bill to allow financially struggling hospitals to apply for a new designation as a “rural emergency hospital” and receive federal relief heard testimony before the House Health Policy Committee on Thursday.
HB 6380, introduced Tuesday by Rep. Andrew Fink (R-Hillsdale), would allow Michigan hospitals to receive the designation Congress created in 2020 to preserve emergency services amid decreasing inpatient volumes and resources in rural areas, said Lauren Lapine, director of small and rural hospital and policy programs with the Michigan Health and Hospital Association (MHA).
“As of Jan. 1, 2023, the rural emergency hospital model allows current critical access hospitals, and certain other rural hospitals with fewer than 50 beds, to convert to a rural emergency hospital status,” LaPine said.
The model is designed to provide financially struggling rural hospitals with the money to stay open and maintain critical emergency services, she said.
LaPine said Fink’s bill, a result of six months of collaboration between the MHA and state Departments of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) and the Michigan Center for Rural Health, would allow hospitals that meet the criteria to convert as early as Jan. 1, 2023.
Hospitals that convert must notify DHHS and join a regional medical control authority to ensure continuation of EMS services.
Hospitals then have five years to decide whether to keep the designation permanently or convert back.
During that time, LaPine said the MHA worked with the DHHS and LARA to allow hospitals to bank their beds for up to five years, “ensuring that they can convert back in the event of a public health emergency or to meet emerging community needs.”
While operating as a rural emergency hospital, they would commit to maintaining an average stay length of 24 hours or less and make agreements with Level 1 or 2 trauma centers for transferring patients requiring higher levels of care.
Fink said that, in at least one case, the bill would prevent the complete closure of a Michigan hospital and force residents to seek healthcare elsewhere.
“This bill would allow us to prevent what I think would be a very unfortunate outcome in denying accessibility and healthcare to certain rural residents of Michigan,” Fink said.
No one opposed the bill during committee testimony.
The bill awaits action in the House Health Policy Committee.
