Pictured (L-R): St. Anthony Regional Hospital President and CEO Allen Anderson and CFO Eric Salmonson.
Last week, St. Anthony Regional Hospital administrators announced the facility is pursuing a Critical Access Hospital designation to further solidify the hospital’s fiscal position. Currently, St. Anthony operates as a prospective payment system hospital, meaning reimbursements are set at a fixed rate. CFO Eric Salmonson says the designation would allow a higher reimbursement level for many of the services they already offer.
Multiple recent studies show that more than half of all U.S. hospitals operate unprofitably, and the situation is even worse for rural healthcare centers. President and CEO Allen Anderson says that has not been the case for St. Anthony, but this move will lessen the risk down the road.
A Critical Access Hospital designation does come with some regulatory requirements. Most notably, that includes a cap on inpatient beds at 25 and an annual average length of stay under 96 hours. Anderson says those numbers might seem low, but St. Anthony has easily stayed below those figures since he took over at the hospital a year ago.
Anderson says patients should expect no change to available services once the designation is approved.
Salmonson says the higher reimbursement rate will open the door to potential growth opportunities regarding services provided at St. Anthony.
The designation process is a lengthy one. St. Anthony administrators have submitted their letter of intent, and staff will then verify they meet the participating requirements before filing their formal application. The Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals must complete a hospital-wide survey before the designation becomes effective, which could take as long as a year. The full interview with Anderson and Salmonson is included below.
