It has been less than a year since Kansas counted down the last hours of Mercy Hospital in Independence, Kansas. The demolition work of the hospital, pictured above, seems to be a perfect image of the current problems impacting Kansas health health care.
In an announcement made this morning, Newman Regional Health services in Emporia, Kansas was delivered a brutal blow: their services fell below the guidelines required to continue recieving medicaid funding.
http://www.emporiagazette.com/area_news/article_172deef4-ec59-11e5-825b-b7422cc7efb6.html#.Vu29tDuRZxA.facebook
"The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has determined that Newman Regional Health, in Emporia Kansas, is not in substantial compliance with Medicare regulations. As a result the Medicare Program will not make payment for services furnished to Medicare patients admitted after April 4, 2016," the notice reads
Newman Regional Health care becomes the second hospital in Kansas which offers mental health to face a loss of funding through medicare. This follows the loss of funding to Osawatomie a few months ago. For mental health patients and advocates, the loss of even more beds throughout Kansas represents a real problem. Still, CMS has a rightful concern: understaffing and safety issues were part of the problems linked with the rape of a worker at the Osawatomie facility.
One of the issues facing Newman Regional is a cascade effect — that fewer mental health care beds at Osawatomie, as well as changes over the last few years has resulted in the state having far too few beds available in general hospitals. A full service facility like Newman Medical Center can feel the pressure as a result.
Administrators at Newman Regional remain hopeful that a quick review by CMS can get them back on track.
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"We anticipate a quick turnaround from CMS if the surveyors finish today as expected," Wright said. "We must receive their findings and then submit a Plan of Correction, implement necessary changes and CMS must audit and approve our Plan of Correction and validate that our changes are in place, all prior to April 4th.
Hospitals like Newman Regional rely heavily on the funds provided by medicare services, as many of the patients who seek mental health care services are unable to pay through other means.
The state of Kansas has already said they may not seek to re-certify Osawatomie Hospital. Instead, the state is looking at privatizing the facility, which has raised even more concerns. Having spoken to Rebecca Proctor, director of Kansas Organization of State Employees (KOSE), I was informed the greatest problem facing these facilities remained staffing and security issues. Ranking democrats, and even Republicans remain unsure of who would be interested in buying into a facility that would need major work.
With new pressure and potential loss of bed space at Newman Regional Center, mental healthcare advocates worry we may be seeing a spiral of services, as the lack of enough services at one facility creates additional service pressures at others — and they simply cannot keep up. Staffing, security and safety issues, the three S’s, remain unaddressed and a quick move to privatize will not solve these problems. For patients who seek regular medical care at Newman, the concerns are just as serious, and there are always concerns that what happened in Independence, with the closure of Mercy hospital, could be replicated.
Robert Wright, an administrator at Newman Center, notified me on 3/22/2016, that regardless of the CMS review, it is important for patients to know that medicare patients will not be turned away after April 4 for services. saying: “No patient will be billed for services not paid for by medicare at our hospital.”
With more than 4,000 Kansans sitting on a 7 years for waiting list mental & physical disability services, services state wide from longterm to short term care face an uncertain future. Patients who need direct or immediate support may soon find that their are fewer places to seek the help they need.
For residents of Emporia, Kansas, the concern over Newman Regional Center’s funding — or lack thereof — isn’t just about proper care for the patients it handles. it also impacts job stability and the economic viability of the facility. These are problems that make attracting new and young medical professionals to a facility more difficult, and often more costly.
UPDATED: Original content stressed that Newman functioned primarily as a mental health facility; this is due to an original reference in another article, and has been corrected. Robert Wright wished to convey these services will not be billed to patients regardless of CMS after April 4. These changes were made within the article, which was published hours after the story was distributed in the statehouse.
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