Pennock Hospital

Spectrum Health Pennock Announces Plan to Pursue Designation as Critical Access Hospital

 HASTINGS, Mich., June 5, 2018 – Spectrum Health Pennock officials recently announced the hospital is pursuing designation as a Critical Access Hospital (CAH), also known as the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program.

Critical Access Hospitals must operate as not-for-profit organizations, be located in rural areas and currently participate in the federal Medicare program.

The Spectrum Health Pennock executive team presented a written recommendation to its Board of Trustees in May. The board approved Spectrum Health Pennock applying for CAH status and an application will be submitted to the Department of Rural Health for consideration. Hospital officials said that the application process takes approximately six months.

“This designation directly aligns with the mission of Spectrum Health Pennock; to improve the health of the communities we serve. The board of trustees is committed to having improved efficiencies for better and safer patient care,” explained Spectrum Health Pennock Board Chair Brad Johnson.

Hospital officials explained the CAH status is for small hospitals which are essential to rural geographic areas like Barry County. Under the CAH designation, Spectrum Health Pennock would have 25 inpatient beds. Currently, the hospital’s average inpatient census is 18.4 patients per day. There are no restrictions in the services CAHs can offer, which means new services may be added as needs arise.

Through a hospital work group, Spectrum Health Pennock has successfully simulated a 60-day CAH environment. The CAH work group recently summarized progress and found no significant issues or barriers to applying for CAH status to Pennock. The simulation project highlighted several processes that can be improved through the transition to CAH status, supporting Spectrum Health Pennock’s position that it can achieve this designation and continue to provide a consistently high level of care to patients.

The CAH status is expected to bring improved efficiency, private patient rooms, improved health outcomes, noise reduction and enhanced infection control. The CAH designation is also expected to allow for increased Medicare reimbursements to allow improvements in technology, facilities and patient care.

“CAH status will help to advance the already high quality, safe care we provide,” said Sheryl Lewis Blake, president, Spectrum Health Pennock. “The ability of our employees to respond quickly to the needs of those in our care will be enhanced by this designation.”

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Contact:
Meredith Schrotenboer
Lead Communications Specialist
Phone: 616.283.2112
Email: meredith.schrotenboer@corewellhealth.org