Hospital board affirms support of better Medicaid funding for nursing homes

Monday, April 29, 2019

McCook, Neb. — Meeting earlier this month, Community Hospital board members reaffirmed the hospital’s support for Hillcrest Nursing Home in light of the financial crisis in reimbursement the nursing home currently faces.

With the current crisis facing the facility due to shortfalls in State Medicaid reimbursement, the board discussion covered three points:

1. The community would economically be affected if the nursing home closed and its 160 employees lost their jobs.

2. Community Hospital already has been affected as it becomes increasingly difficult to place Medicaid patients in Hillcrest and area nursing homes.

The vital question: “What if there are no nursing homes for our elderly because they have all closed?”

3. McCook and area hospital patients (and their families) are affected as they seek a

nursing home facility to reside that accepts Medicaid coverage.

If they have no place to go, they may end up staying at home. That scenario could hinder quality of care. Patients may end up returning to the hospital often, which is even more costly.

Community Hospital’s new Vice President Clinical Services and Chief Nursing officer, Molly Herzberg, was in attendance at the meeting and introduced to the board. Molly formerly was Community Hospital’s Director of Surgical Services for the last 12 years.

She has worked at Community Hospital for the past 17 years, and has spent her entire career in rural healthcare. under tHe Consent agenda, the board approved the Emergency Management

Report and the Physical Environment/ Environment of Care

Report. The board also approved the Hospice and Home

Health Annual Program Evaluation Manuals.

Jon Reiners, Director of Strategic Planning, educated the board on the strategic

planning process timeline, which included Step II of the Voice of the Customer Map,

Gap Analysis, and Determining Areas of Strategic Focus.

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