Bipartisan effort to re-open rural California hospital

I blogged this summer about the impending closure of the Glenn County Hospital in northern California, a closure attributable to a change in interpretation of a federal regulation regarding what counts as a "critical access" hospital.  Because of that changed interpretation, the hospital lost a critical funding stream and closed in early October, as reported here.  Now, however, U.S. Senator Adam Schiff and U.S. Congressman Doug LaMalfa, both from California, have introduced legislation that would restore the funding stream, leading to the possibility of the facility again opening.  Here is some detail of how that might work:

Schiff teamed up with Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi to introduce legislation that would amend the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program, which helps fund critical access hospitals. Their bill would allow hospitals designated critical access as of Jan. 1, 2024 – including Glenn Medical Center – to keep that status.

 Ana Ibara reports for CalMatters on why the effort is unlikely to be successful.  Here's an excerpt:  

Each proposal would restore the hospital’s “critical access” status, a designation that brings increased Medicare reimbursement and regulatory flexibilities that help small hospitals.

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Changing federal policy to restore the hospital’s critical access status, however, would not enable Glenn Medical to reopen immediately. Even if Congress approves Schiff’s or LaMalfa’s bill, the hospital is still left with another problem: reopening a closed facility requires cash, and lots of it.

“Having the critical access designation reinstated, which is my understanding of what the bill would do, that at least makes [reopening] a possibility,” said Matthew Beehler, a spokesperson for American Advanced Management, the for-profit company that owns Glenn Medical Center and several other rural hospitals in California.

But, he said, “the reality is once the employees have left, you’re starting from scratch. We need to see this be successful first and then work with electeds to help identify potential funding sources,” he said.

Beehler did not have an exact figure, but reopening Glenn Medical, he said, would cost in the tens of millions of dollars.