August 30, 2010

Governor and Hospitals Focus on Rural Health Issues, Including CAH Initiative

On Saturday (Aug. 28), CEOs and senior leaders of Critical Access Hospitals, along with hospital trustees and business and community leaders, were at Franklin Hospital in Benton to meet with Governor Pat Quinn to discuss key rural health care issues, including the enactment of House Bill 5765/Public Act 096-1382. As a result of the new law, a key initiative of IHA during the Spring 2010 legislative session, Critical Access Hospitals in Illinois will be reimbursed for Medicaid outpatient services, based on cost.

Also at the event were Senator Gary Forby (D-59, Benton), chief sponsor of the legislation, and Representative Brandon Phelps (D-118, Norris City), also a sponsor of the legislation.

Among the hospital representatives attending were: Hervey Davis, Chief Executive Officer, Franklin Hospital, Benton; Thomas J. Hudgins, Administrator/CEO, Pinckneyville Community Hospital, Pinckneyville; Thomas F. Barry, Jr., President & CEO, Ferrell Hospital, Eldorado; Roby Williams, Administrator, Hardin County General Hospital, Rosiclare; Nancy M. Newby, Ph.D., President & CEO, Washington County Hospital, Nashville; Brad Futrell, Chief Operating Officer, Hamilton Memorial Hospital District, McLeansboro; and Mike Budnick, Chief Operating Officer, Franklin Hospital.

Governor Quinn underscored his commitment to quality health care for all Illinoisans. The Governor said he was pleased to sign the legislation in support of Critical Access Hospitals, which provide access to health care for communities in rural areas across the state. He also told the group that earlier in the year when he met with a number of hospital CEOs at a breakfast in Springfield he had committed to find a way to assist CAHs. The Governor also recognized the economic impact of Illinois' hospitals, which employ over a quarter of a million people and provide significant economic impact to the state.

This event underscored IHA's and the hospital community's continuing efforts to find ways to partner with state government to ensure the sustainability of our health care delivery system in a very challenging fiscal and political environment.

To see the Governor's press release about the meeting, click here. To see IHA's press release, click here.