That would turn many uninsured patients into paying customers for struggling hospitals, industry officials argue.īut Georgia’s political leaders, citing costs, have rejected Medicaid expansion, though 31 other states have pursued it. Hospital industry leaders in the state have called for Georgia to expand its Medicaid program as outlined by the Affordable Care Act. “Because of the tremendous cash crunches,” Lewis said, “there is the clear possibility that other hospitals can close this calendar year.” These facilities also deal with a heavy administrative burden from dealing with reimbursement complexity, Lewis added. “Even people who appear to be insured are underinsured because of high deductibles.” Rural hospitals are dealing with high levels of uncompensated care, he said Wednesday. The Ellijay closure reflects the financial crisis facing rural Georgia hospitals, said Jimmy Lewis, CEO of HomeTown Health, an association of rural hospitals in the state. “We’re excited to move some of that care into the community, particularly since the ER has been closed for three months.”’ “Our hospital in Jasper, Piedmont Mountainside, already serves a fairly large number of patients from Gilmer County and Ellijay,’’ said Matt Gove, chief consumer officer for Piedmont Healthcare. Piedmont Healthcare told GHN that it hopes to reopen the now-closed North Georgia ER by Nov. These CON laws help determine where hospitals are located and how they operate. The Piedmont lease agreement followed a state agency’s determination that such an arrangement does not require approval under Georgia health care regulations known as Certificate of Need (CON). Nathan Deal to shore up the finances of such hospitals.Īnother rural facility, Hutcheson Medical Center in the northwest Georgia town of Fort Oglethorpe, closed in December, but a new organization, ApolloMD, has reopened the ER and other parts of the hospital, which has been renamed Cornerstone Medical Center. The rural health crisis in the state has fueled legislation and an initiative by Gov. Read more about the analysis at hospital closing follows the shutdown of four other rural hospitals in Georgia since the beginning of 2013. Tanner Medical Center of Carrollton (Carrollton).Piedmont Columbus Regional Northside (Columbus).Cartersville Medical Center (Cartersville). ![]() Wellstar Douglas Hospital (Douglasville).Piedmont Mountainside Hospital (Jasper).Piedmont Fayette Hospital (Fayetteville).Phoebe Sumter Medical Center (Americus).Colquitt Regional Medical Center (Moultrie).Piedmont Athens Regional Medical Center (Athens).Here are all the Georgia hospitals that earned an “A” grade: Archbold Memorial (Thomasville) Emory Hillandale (Lithonia) Atlanta Medical Center and Memorial Hospital and Manor in Bainbridge. They include: Habersham Medical Center (Demorest) John D. “Quality, safety and service lie at the heart of Piedmont’s strategic vision of providing high-quality, patient-centered care and it is great to see us delivering on that.”įive Georgia hospitals scored a “D” in Leapfrog’s ranking. “We are proud of our record on quality, which our talented employees have worked hard to attain,” Piedmont president and CEO Kevin Brown said in a statement. Twenty-seven of the 76 Georgia hospitals in Leapfrog's analysis received an "A" grade, including seven of Piedmont Healthcare's 11 facilities. The measures, divided into two domains (process/structural and outcome measures), encompass a variety of safety factors, such as physician staffing, staff responsiveness, nurse and doctor communication, falls and trauma, and postoperative failure rate. The Safety Grade includes 28 measures, all currently in use by national measurement and reporting programs. » RELATED: This Piedmont ER nurse will walk the dog if that's what it takes
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