Columbia County Health System

We Need Your Help Protecting Rural Washington Healthcare

The proposed Governor’s budget slashes reimbursement of Medicaid patients by an average of 48% to Critical Access Hospitals in Washington State. Dayton General Hospital is facing a larger cut of 76% or $404,000 annually. This will be devastating to our Health System and community. This is not a reasonable cut for critical services.

Please contact the following key State representatives and encourage them to “preserve cost based reimbursement for Critical Access Hospitals”. The future of our local hospital is at stake.

Legislators

1. Senator Mike Hewitt (360) 786-7630 mike.hewitt@leg.wa.gov
2. Representative Terry Nealey (360) 786-7828 Terry.nealey@leg.wa.gov
3. Representative Maureen Walsh (360) 786-7836 Maureen.walsh@leg.wa.gov
4. Representative Mike Armstrong (360) 786-7832 mike.armstrong@leg.wa.gov
5. Senator Linda Evans Parlette (360) 786-7622 linda.parlette@leg.wa.gov
6. Representative Joel Kretz (360) 786-7988 joel.kretz@leg.wa.gov
7. Representative Shelly Short (360) 786-7908 shelly.short@leg.wa.gov
8. Senator Bob Morton (360) 786-7612 bob.morton@leg.wa.gov
9. Senator Karen Keiser (360) 786-7664 karen.keiser@leg.wa.gov
10. Representative Eileen Cody (360) 786-7978 eileen.cody@leg.wa.gov

If you have questions or want more information, please contact Charlie Button, CEO of Columbia County Health System at (509) 382-9355 or email at charlieb@cchd-wa.org

Everyone!!!!!!!!

Please come and enjoy a great salad lunch this Friday, October 28th at the Congregational Church on 3rd Street from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. This is as a fundraiser for the hospital auxiliary.

Thank you.

Please pass this on to your fellow workers if they are not listed here. We are taking up donations for Kelly Fuller and her family. Her Husband has cancer and they are trying to take a trip to California. If you can help in any way please contact Jeff Huddle.

There is also a spaghetti feed on October 29 at the school starting at 5:00 pm. The cost is $10 per person or $30 for a family. Tickets are available at Elk Drug.-

ACTION NEEDED: PROTECT CRITICAL ACCESS HOSPITALS!
Background: The Critical Access Hospital program is a lifeline for 38 rural hospitals in our state. These small, rural hospitals have high volumes of Medicare, Medicaid, and uninsured patients. “Critical Access” designation provides them cost-based reimbursement for their Medicare and Medicaid patients. These hospitals are an important component of Washington’s health care system. They serve rural communities and stabilize patients for transport to larger urban facilities.

Both the federal and state governments are considering making significant cuts to the Critical Access Hospital program. The Health Care Authority’s recent list of proposed cuts includes a $22 million reduction in Medicaid payments to Critical Access Hospitals. (This is a bigger cut than originally estimated; the Authority made a miscalculation.) When federal Medicaid matching funds are added in, the total loss is $44 million. This is an average cut of 48 percent of Medicaid payments. A cut this size is significant for Washington’s rural hospitals and will greatly impact the services they provide. Enacting the cuts would also mean the loss of many hospital and health care jobs in rural communities statewide where the hospital is often the largest employer.

Hospital-Specific Impact: WSHA has calculated the impact of the proposed state cuts. Click here to see them.

Action Needed: Please contact the Governor and your state legislators and urge them to protect Critical Access Hospital funding. We urge all hospitals to make this contact, not just Critical Access Hospitals. Our state health care system functions best when there is a strong network of hospitals working together to ensure appropriate care for every patient. A breakdown in the Critical Access Hospital network will impact all hospitals in Washington State.

Message: “Please make preserving Critical Access Hospital funding a high priority as you develop the state’s budget. This funding is a lifeline for many of our small, rural hospitals. Without it, hospitals will be forced to cut services and lay off staff, which will have a major impact on their local economies. There will also be a tremendous impact on our rural residents who will have to travel further for care and whose health will suffer as a result. Our state benefits from a strong network of hospitals working together to ensure appropriate care for every patient. Our entire health care system will suffer without this important source of care.”

Thursday’s from 8:00am – 12:00pm
Lab will draw for Lipid Panel (cholesterol check,) and HA1C, a test that shows how well your blood surgar has been controled over a 3 – 4 month period.
* You are required to fast 10 – 12 hours prior to testing
$15.00 for Lipid Panel
$20.00 for HA1C

Click here to take our survey

Click Here to see a recent article regarding our meaningful use attestation, and a great accomplishment for the organization and staff!

This last year was a challenge for the staff at CCHS installing CPSI (our new Electronic Medical Record System). The hard work of the staff is now paying off. All of the modules are installed and the focus now is on efficiencies and compliance of the system. CCHS is proud to be a frontrunner of small rural hospitals in the country to install a complete system and moving forward to qualify for “Meaningful Use”. “Meaningful Use” will allow us to maintain current reimbursement for government payers as well as receive government incentives. We could not have done this without the tremendous support of the community…(More Here)

Come support the Chamber and support our businesses and the great citizens that make up this community. More information here: http://www.historicdayton.com