The PeaceHealth Peace Island Medical Center with a CAH designation can provide better access to more services, in a safer and more comprehensive setting for patients of all ages in San Juan County.
Federal legislation enacted in 1997 authorized states to establish ‘Critical Access Hospitals’ (CAHs) in rural communities in order to assure the economic viability and quality of medical care in rural communities. These facilities are limited service facilities with flexible staffing and service requirements.
A ‘Critical Access Hospital’ must:
- maintain no more than 25 beds (The PeaceHealth Peace Island Medical Center will have 10 beds),
- keep patients hospitalized no more than an average of 96 hours, and
- provide 24 hour emergency care.
CAHs are licensed by the state and assigned a Critial Acess Hospital Medicare reimbursement designation. This is key because Rural Health Clinics (including the Inter Island Medical Center), are reimbursed as a doctor’s office visit. CAHs receive 101% cost reimbursement for all in and outpatient services provided to Medicare beneficiaries. This often results in a doubling or tripling of the reimbursement paid by Medicare for each service type. Better reimbursement means more monies available for serving all patients in the facility.
Higher reimbursement directly translates into quality staff, state-of-the-art equipment and significantly increased medical services while maintaining financial sustainability.
Based upon preliminary reports from expert consultants in the hospital service field, San Juan Island, with its unusually large Medicare population, should be able to qualify for a CAH license.
For further details about what a Critical Access Hospital is all about, see the Washington State Department of Health website.
