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Local citizens turned out to support the Garfield County Hospital District's position to maintain long-term care residents in the swing-bed portion of the facility. The 20-year practice has come into question after a change of rules interpretation was issued at the last Department of Health regular inquiry. The investigation outcome has been called into question by the GCHD.
POMEROY-Citizens here came together on the corner of 6th Street and Main in a rally to show their support of keeping Garfield County Memorial Hospital (GCHD) residents in the hospital on May 5.
Dozens of locals stood in the rain, holding signs reading 'Why does Grandma have to leave?' and 'Keep them in their home'. At issue is the interpretation of a clause in the legal rules about whether or not swing beds can be permanent. While no laws have changed, a reinterpretation of the clause could require long-term care residents of the hospital to find a new location to call home. "There is one clause in the legal rules that can be interpreted in many ways," stated Dr. Andrew Park. "The law should be interpreted to benefit the people." Dr. Park also noted the dedication shown by local families who have or have had family members in the hospital for long-term care.
The GCHD issued the following statement and was collaborated with GCHD co-CEO Matt Slaybaugh who expressed the desire to communicate the districts interpretation and position.
"We wanted to share the facts of the situation that is currently unfolding at the hospital. The hospital is licensed as a Critical Access Hospital which allows us to operate a swing bed program. The swing bed program allows us to provide skilled nursing type care.
Since the hospital enrolled in the swing bed program in the early 2000's, we have been providing long term care to residents of our community. This had previously been done under a skilled nursing facility license but the nursing home was closed and everything was moved under the hospital license and the swing bed program.
Surveyors from the Department of Health (DOH) arrived at the hospital on Tuesday, May 3, 2022, to complete our regular DOH survey as well as our regular Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) survey. The surveyors informed us that the new interpretation of the swing bed regulations does not allow for long term care in swing beds. The surveyor informed us that the 14 patients who are currently in what we call "permanent swing beds" will have to be moved to different facilities. This is due to a change in interpretation and not a change in the rules
Over the last almost 20 years, the hospital has been through multiple DOH and CMS surveys and no questions have ever been raised about us providing care in this format. We strongly disagree with this new interpretation and have a strong argument from the Medicare regulations as to why we should be allowed to continue providing long term care in our swing bed program. We will be pleading our case with DOH and CMS to be able keep all of our patients here.
It has been suggested that we should split back into a hospital and nursing home. Creating or switching to a nursing home is not a quick or easy process. It would be a one-to-two-year process just to get licensed but would also require significant work to get our facility. This may be a long-term solution but it is not a quick or an easy one."
