Hospitals face increasingly difficult financial situations, no matter their size, due to cuts in Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements and deals with insurance companies.
A 2015 study by the Mississippi Center for Health Policy and university partners cited a number of reasons that small hospitals serving more rural areas are susceptible to failure in the current financial climate: Lingering effects from the recession of 2008, population loss in rural areas, a reduction in funding under the Affordable Care Act that was not replaced when the state refused to expand Medicaid, as well as rising care costs, size and lack of capital.
Mississippi House Public Health Committee chairman Rep. Sam Mims V, R-McComb, is trying to help smaller, rural hospitals stay afloat by proposing the House Bill 318, which he calls the Save the Rural Hospital Act.
“I believe we need to do all we can to keep rural hospitals open,” he said.
The bill, if enacted, would create a fund of $4 million, administered by the Mississippi Department of Health, from which hospitals could apply for grants of up to $200,000 annually. The grants could fund a change or expansion of services; integration of physician practices; establishment of a provider cooperative, telemedicine system or electronic health records system; cover charges associated with being designated a critical access hospital; or programs to increase accessibility to care.
Critical access hospitals would be eligible to apply for grants, as well as hospitals in counties of fewer than 60,000 people or in municipalities of fewer than 7,500.
Four hospitals in the Enterprise-Journal’s coverage area are eligible critical access hospitals, including Field Memorial Hospital in Centreville, Franklin County Memorial Hospital in Meadville, Lawrence County Hospital in Monticello and Walthall General Hospital in Tylertown.
Mims said up to 48 hospitals statewide could be eligible.
“I think it’s important for hospitals to realize that they need to reinvent themselves,” Mims said. “They need to find their niche, and stay open so they can provide quality care.”
Mims noted that hospitals are important not only for providing care, but also for providing jobs.
Hospitals are “vital for our communities. They pay millions of dollars in payroll every year,” he said.
The bill is similar to legislation Mims authored in previous sessions that would have allowed hospitals to apply for $500,000 grants from a $10 million pot of money. Past efforts have made it as far as getting approval from the House but not the Senate. A bill he introduced in 2016, known as the Mississippi Rural Hospital Transition and Improvement Grant Program, never cleared a committee vote amid budget concerns.
Mims said those concerns are still relevant.
“I understand we are in difficult and challenging budget times, so I reduced it from $10 million to $4 million,” he said.
Tina Brumfield, spokeswoman for Southwest Health Systems, which owns Lawrence County Hospital, said officials there are reviewing the impact the bill would have for them.
Evan Dillard, president and chief executive officer of Forrest Health, which oversees Walthall County General Hospital, gave his support to the bill.
“Patients in rural areas not only deserve, but desperately need access to appropriate healthcare, for emergency situations in particular,” Dillard said. “I heartily favor legislation that aims to increase access of care and substantiality of rural hospitals like Walthall General and look forward to the passing of the Save the Rural Hospitals Act.
“I am passionate about the benefits of having community hospitals, and it encourages me to know our state officials share that passion.”
Mims said the bill could be a tough sell while state finances are constrained by lower tax revenues.
“I wish we could create a larger grant fund, but we are constrained by the budget,” Mims said. I believe this is a good, conservative approach, and I’m working hard to find the money to go into this grant program.”
While the bill creates a fund for the grant program, it will not go into effect unless the money is appropriated in the budget.
The bill passed the Public Health and Appropriations committees last week and is expected to receive a vote on the House floor this week.
