News Releases for February 2008
February 01, 2008
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Hoeven: CMS Reopens Demonstration Project For St. Joseph's Hospital In Dickinson
BISMARCK, N.D. - Gov. John Hoeven today announced that the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has reopened a demonstration project so that St. Joseph's Hospital in Dickinson may apply. The hospital's participation in the Rural Hospital Demonstration Project would bring the facility up to $1.3 million in additional funding over the next two years in Medicare reimbursement.
Hoeven spoke last month with U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt and CMS Administrator Kerry Weems to request a waiver allowing St. Joseph's Hospital to obtain critical access designation, as well as to request reopening the demonstration project to make St. Joseph's Hospital eligible. Current CMS rules allow only one critical access facility within a 35 mile radius, and at present, Richardton Memorial Hospital carries that designation.
"This is good news for St. Joseph's Hospital and the community of Dickinson in the short term, but we remain focused on a long term solution that addresses the needs of both Dickinson and Richardton," Hoeven said. "We will continue to work on securing a waiver for critical access status for St. Joseph's, which will increase its reimbursement rates and strengthen its financial situation over the long term."
"All of us appreciate the work that Gov. Hoeven and others have done to help us take this step forward, which will enable us to continue to provide quality health care to the citizens of western North Dakota in the short term," said Nancy Johnson, St. Joseph's board chairwoman. "We also appreciate the Governor's work to secure critical access status to ensure the ongoing fiscal health of the facility."
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