The state of Texas leads the nation in rural hospital closures.
Twenty-one rural hospitals across the Lone Star State have closed over ten years.
In an effort to try and reduce that number or prevent another hospital from closing, Coalition of Health Services in Amarillo held a conference on Wednesday where CEO’s and board members of rural hospital from across the Texas Panhandle met with a representative of TORCH, Texas Organization of Rural and Community Hospitals, to discuss and learn about grant funding options that are now available.
“Sent representative Heather Willmann to talk with us about the Federal RHT program and our hopes is that it’s going to help us sustain services and keep your rural hospitals open,” said Holly Holcomb, CEO of Childress Medical Center.
To provide the highest level of care for its patients, rural hospitals across the Lone Star State must be adequately staffed and well-funded.
“Recruiting and retainment are huge,” said Paul Burke, CEO of Shamrock General Hospital. “We have to pay out at a higher rate to get people to move out of urban to rural to entice them which increases our costs. We have lower volumes with sequestration at the federal level, and a lot of the state cuts were seeing decreased revenue.”
“Grant monies will help for a number of years, but we have to come up with a way to keep it sustainable for the lifetime of the hospital,” said Holcomb.
Another grant funding option is House Bill 18 Innovation that is available for rural hospitals to apply for till May 28. It comes with a funding amount total of $25 million and up to $5-miilion per grantee for three years
The next meeting hosted by Coalition of Health Services for CEO’s and board members of rural hospitals from across the Texas Panhandle is scheduled for Wed. June 3.
Texas tops U.S. in rural hospital closures; staffing costs and cuts squeeze facilities (KVII)