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Funding is critical for QVMC
The Quincy Valley Medical Center, our local hospital, is facing a looming financial crisis.
“So, what else is new?” you might be tempted to ask. I know, for years and even decades, our hospital has struggled to make ends meet, but I’m not talking about the standard struggles the hospital has constantly faced throughout the years, I’m talking about the possibility that the medical center could lose up to $1.4 million in state funding.
Because of its rural location and the population it serves, our hospital has enjoyed Critical Access status. This means the hospital is reimbursed for its costs in treating Medicare and Medicaid patients.
Without the status, the hospital actually loses money treating those patients.
Now, Gov. Christine Gregoire has her eye on cutting back the payments to Critical Access hospitals for treating Medicaid patients as a way to balance the state budget.
Of course, we know that cuts have to be made to the state budget, considering that it will have a projected $1.4 billion shortfall. But trying to balance the state budget on the backs of rural hospitals, which serve remote locations and populations, is not a good idea.
Without the state funding, QVMC would have some very tough decisions to make, especially in light of the recent projections that the hospital will have to write off more than $1 million in bad debts this year.
I hope the state legislature has a change of heart. We need a strong network of rural hospitals throughout our state. It truly is a matter of life and death, because people suffering from life-threatening diseases or injuries will die if they have to be transported to hospitals in larger communities.
I believe that the people running our hospital have a good plan in place to keep its doors open through the normal everyday financial stresses it has to face.
But can the hospital absorb taking a $1.4 million hit all at once? That would be a very difficult challenge.
If you care about having a hospital in our community, I would urge you to call your state representative.
And another thing, please try to pay your hospital bills.
