Sheridan Memorial Hospital (SMH) is holding two community listening sessions next week about a potential transition to a critical access hospital (CAH) designation.
The designation is given to rural hospitals that meet certain requirements, like having 25 or fewer acute inpatient beds, providing 24/7 emergency care services and being located more than 35 miles away from another hospital. CAHs are also paid by Medicare based on the amount it costs the hospital to provide care instead of the fixed reimbursement model, which pays a set amount for treatment.
CEO Mike McCafferty said this is particularly important given that roughly two-thirds of SMH’s patients are on public insurance like Medicare and Medicaid.
“We’ve seen a dramatic shift in our payer mix for our community, which has led to an increasingly difficult time for us to generate income over expense on an annual basis. In fact, over the last 10 years, we’ve averaged about a 2.4% annual loss,” said McCafferty.
There are currently 19 CAHs in Wyoming. At Sheridan Memorial, the current fixed Medicare reimbursement model covers roughly 75% of the cost to provide care. McCafferty explained that the potential shift to CAH designation would allow the hospital to continue its mission to care for the Sheridan community.
“That’s why we’re here. That’s why we exist. Our job is to work within the constraints of all of these multifactorial complexities and balance our budget so that we can serve our mission,” he said. “What critical access does is it allows us an opportunity to look at how we would be paid for caring for Medicare patients, which today makes up over 50% of our traffic.”
McCafferty said SMH has held several community sessions over the last year to discuss the challenges facing rural hospitals, like maternal healthcare deserts, virtual care and larger healthcare systems entering rural markets. The goal of the upcoming sessions will be to answer questions about whether hospital services might change and talk through possibilities.
“We’re going to do our best to try and help people understand that no jobs are going to be cut because of this, no services are going to be stopped because of this,” said McCafferty.
McCafferty said that after these discussions, the hospital team will determine if they want to proceed with applying for CAH designation. The process can take anywhere from three to six months.
“The bottom line is that from this, it gives us the ability to maintain the scope of services we currently provide and grow to meet the growing needs of our community,” he said.
The sessions will take place on April 9 and 10 at 12:00 p.m. at the Center for a Vital Community in Sheridan.
