Hospital Update

Welcome to the fourth installment addressing common questions and concerns about the Hospital District. Previously, we discussed moving the clinic to the hospital, issues with provider turnover, and billing issues. If you missed these articles, they can be found on East Washingtonian website, the hospital website, or the hospital Facebook page. This week's discussion will cover turning patients away.

There was a brief period in time where the decision was made to stop admitting patients. The Hospital District was having some issues with cash flow after the implementation of our new Electronic Health Records (EHR) system that resulted in billing problems. There were several steps taken to quickly reduce our monthly expenses and conserve cash. One of those steps was to temporarily stop admitting new patients which allowed us to decrease staffing levels, thereby decreasing monthly cash expenditures. Once the issues with the new EHR were sorted out and billing got back on track, our cash flow was restored. Since that time, we have not turned away any community members whose needs we could meet.

There are occasions when patients are turned away because we cannot meet their needs medically. We feel strongly that as a community hospital that receives community support it is our duty to care for every community member who presents a need. The hospital has 25 swing beds meaning they can be used for acute care, post-acute care, or what we call permanent swing bed care which is very similar to nursing home care. Currently there are 22 permanent swing bed patients who live here. A few beds need to remain open for acute care patients who may come in through the ER as well as patients who may have a need for post-acute rehabilitation before returning home. At this level, we have very limited room to accept new patients but that can change anytime. If you or a loved one needs a place to go, please give us a call.

The Hospital District hopes this has helped to clear up any questions or confusion that may have existed around this issue. We would invite you to please contact us if you have further questions about our swing bed programs or other questions that could be addressed in this column. We appreciate your continued support of Garfield County Hospital!