Some rural hospitals face a difficult choice of closing in-patient beds to focus instead on 24/7 emergency care

Hospitals with the special designation won't offer
inpatient care. (Photo by G. Rosenke, Unsplash)

Rural hospitals that are struggling financially have an option to receive more federal funding if they focus on emergency services instead of inpatient care. But less than 20 hospitals have made that switch since it became available in January 2023, reports Devna Rose for The Associated Press. 

She writes: "Rural emergency hospitals receive more than $3 million in federal funding a year and higher Medicare reimbursements in exchange for closing all inpatient beds and providing 24/7 emergency care."

There are downsides to the changes, both for rural residents and the hospitals. Rose writes, "People might have to travel further for treatments for illnesses that require inpatient stays, like pneumonia or Covid-19. In some of the communities where hospitals have converted to the new designation, residents are confused about what kind of care they can receive."

According to the AP report: “'It’s ironic' that the facilities that might need the most help can’t afford to take the risk, said Carrie Cochran-McClain, chief policy officer at the National Rural Health Association. She pointed to having to give up certain services and benefits, such as a federal discount program for prescription drugs."

Only 19 hospitals have made the change so far, according to the University of North Carolina's Sheps Center for Health Services Research. But "Brock Slabach, the National Rural Health Association’s chief operations officer, told the AP that upwards of 30 facilities are interested in converting to rural emergency hospitals this year."