JRMC retains Critical Access Hospital designation

Jamestown (CSi)  Senator John Hoeven Tuesday spoke with Health and Human Services (HHS) Deputy Secretary designee Mary Wakefield to help ensure that Jamestown Regional Medical Center (JRMC) retains its Critical Access Hospital designation from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Following Hoeven’s call Tuesday morning with Wakefield, the number two in charge at HHS, CMS agreed to continue JRMC’s designation.

Recently, the North Dakota Department of Health received notice from CMS’s Denver Regional office that Jamestown Regional Medical Center’s Critical Access status may be revoked due to its close proximity to the State Hospital in Jamestown, which is not a general acute care hospital. Critical Access Hospitals must be located more than 35 miles from another hospital and provide 24/7 emergency care services, as does JRMC.

The State Hospital, however, treats patients with serious mental health illnesses or substance abuse and does not, like JRMC, provide a full range of health care services, notably emergency department services, which CMS requires for Critical Access Hospitals.

Hoeven says, “The State Hospital in Jamestown is clearly not a general service hospital, and doesn’t provide the same range of health care services as JRMC,. I spoke with Secretary Wakefield to help us make sure that JRMC can keep its Critical Access designation and we appreciate her help in getting CMS to agree to maintain the designation. Jamestown Regional Medical Center provides important care to this community, and this designation makes a big difference to the center’s financial reimbursement and strength.”

Previously…

Bismarck  (CSi) Congressman Kevin Cramer announced he received word Tuesday that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) at the Department of Health and Human Services has reversed a decision it made last week to revoke the critical access hospital (CAH) status of Jamestown Regional Medical Center (JRMC).

“Critical Access Hospital” is a designation given to certain rural hospitals by CMS to reduce the financial vulnerability of rural hospitals and improve access to healthcare by keeping essential services in rural communities. The primary eligibility requirements for CAHs are that the hospital have 25 or fewer acute care inpatient beds, be located more than 35 miles from another hospital , maintain an annual average length of stay of 96 hours or less for acute care patients and provide 24/7 emergency care services.

Upon being notified of the revocation decision by JRMC President and CEO K.C. DeBoer last Thursday, Cramer immediately sent a letter to CMS Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt, and he reached out to him by email over the weekend. Cramer is a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over CMS.

Cramer said the decision to revoke the Critical Access Designation for JRMC was based on the misunderstanding that the North Dakota State Hospital, also located in Jamestown, was a traditional hospital.  “The North Dakota State Hospital provides psychiatric and chemical dependency treatment to North Dakotans who require in-patient or specialized residential care,” he said.  “It is does not meet the traditional definition of a hospital.”

Cramer said he was confident that once he reached out to him, Slavitt would realize the misunderstanding and immediately reverse the decision to revoke the CAH designation the JRMC has had since 2009. “I am pleased the JRMC administration contacted me right away.  JRMC is the only acute care hospital in the Jamestown region and it is imperative it retains its status as the area’s critical access hospital.”

Senator Heidi Heitkamps adds, “The care provided at Jamestown Regional Medical Center is absolutely essential for folks in and around Jamestown, which is why I pushed for the center to have continued status as a Critical Access hospital.  To make sure JRMC could retain this needed designation, I pressed the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to recognize that the State Hospital in Jamestown doesn’t provide the broad range of services that JRMC does – from day-and-night emergency services, to run of the mill checkups.”