Valley Health Page Memorial Hospital (PMH) has been notified by the Centers
for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that its designation as a Critical
Access Hospital (CAH) remains intact. The federal government’s decision
to maintain the hospital’s CAH status ends a six month process undertaken
by Valley Health System and PMH to document and defend the continued legitimacy
of its 2005 designation.
“We are extremely pleased that CMS reviewed our case objectively
and rescinded its termination of Page Memorial Hospital’s Critical
Access designation,” said Valley Health President and CEO Mark H.
Merrill. “We understand the need for scrutiny and legitimacy and
find it positive that our experience will help CMS clarify the review
process for its field representatives nationwide.”
PMH has been a Critical Access Hospital since October 1, 2005. The CMS
designation provides a cost of care reimbursement differential to smaller
hospitals in medically underserved rural communities and with less financial
income opportunities. Without this advantage, these hospitals would be
hard pressed to remain open, leaving rural communities without lifesaving
services as acutely ill patients face delays in care and adverse outcomes
due to travel.
On August 24, 2015 Page Memorial Hospital was notified by the Federal
Office of Rural Health Policy that its Critical Access Hospital designation
would be terminated no later than August 24, 2016. The letter stated that
the hospital no longer meets the mileage or mountainous terrain requirements
to participate in the CAH program.
In PMH’s request for reconsideration to CMS, it demonstrated that
the hospital was not, in fact, originally certified based on distance
or mountainous terrain, but was designated a “necessary provider”
of health services as it met all five CMS standards for this classification:
- Hospital is located in a nonmetropolitan county that is a federally designed
Medically Underserved Area (MUA) or Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA);
- Hospital is located in a county where the percentage of poverty exceeds
the state average percentage as specified in the most recent U.S. census
of population;
- The percentage of the hospital’s revenue from Medicare exceeds the
state average for Medicare reimbursement;
- Hospital is located in a county where the percentage of the population
age 65 and older is greater than the state average as specified in the
most recent U.S. census estimate of population and age; and
- Hospital is located in a county whose most recent three-year unemployment
rate average exceeds the same three-year average rate for the state.
“These same criteria hold true in Page County today,” said
Page Memorial Hospital President N. Travis Clark. (See table below.) “While
this process wasn’t a distraction we welcomed, it has strengthened
our connections with state and national agencies, rural health and hospital
associations, and a variety of elected officials from Luray to Washington,
D.C. I’d like to thank them, as well as many community members,
for their enthusiastic support. We look forward to continuing to serve
the community for decades to come.”
MEASUREMENT PAGE COUNTY VIRGINIA
|
% of Population > 65
|
19.4%
|
13.4%
|
|
% Living in Poverty
|
15.1%
|
11.3%
|
|
Unemployment Rate
|
6.7%
|
5.0%
|
|
Elder Suicide Rate
|
43.9 per 100,000**
|
15.6 per 100,000
|
|
Heart Disease Deaths
|
193 per 100,000
|
161 per 100,000
|
|
Diabetes Prevalence
|
11%
|
8.7%
|
** Highest rate in Virginia
“We are extremely grateful for the cooperation and support we received
from Secretary Hazel and others in the Governor’s Office and the
bipartisan support from our elected leaders, including Senators Mark Warner
and Tim Kaine, Congressman Bob Goodlatte and Congresswoman Barbara Comstock,”
Merrill concluded. “Their willingness to advocate on our behalf
on this matter is gratifying. Our elected leaders recognized the importance
of PMH’s CAH designation for access to care and the economic impact
PMH has in its community. Our elected leaders are to be commended for
such favorable support.”