Senator Schumer holds round table discussion with area medical professionals

Nov. 25—U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer talked about the need for Critical Access Hospitals and led a round table discussion with area health care professionals at the A.O. Fox Hospital Tri-Town Campus in Sidney on Wednesday, Nov. 23, his 72nd birthday.

Delaware County has three critical access hospitals: UHS Delaware Valley Hospital in Walton, Margaretville Memorial Hospital and O'Connor Hospital in Delhi are critical access hospitals. A.O. Fox Hospital Tri-Town Campus in Sidney is a satellite hospital for A.O. Fox Hospital in Oneonta.

In addition, Cobleskill Regional Hospital and Little Falls Hospital in the Bassett Healthcare Network are also critical access hospitals, Gabrielle Argo, director of public relations Bassett Healthcare Network, said.

The critical access hospital status provides rural hospitals enhanced reimbursement rates to keep healthcare services in underserved communities, a media release said. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services proposed to change the rules for the eligibility criteria for rural hospitals.

"They defined a primary road to include a single lane road," Schumer said. "That's where the bureaucracy gets very complex and very frustrating. Because they were changing this definition nearly a dozen rural upstate hospitals including here in Delaware County the Margaretville Hospital and O'Connor Hospital would no longer be classified as critical access hospitals in rural communities. It was infuriating that the upstate New York hospitals were scared because they depend on the funding."

Senior Vice President of Bassett Healthcare Network Eric Stein, who oversees the three critical access hospitals in the network, and Rolland "Boomer" Bojo Jr., president and CEO of UHS Delaware Valley Hospital, said without the funding, the hospitals would have budget deficits.

Margaretville Hospital was slated to lose $2.4 million and O'Connor Hospital was slated to lose $3 million if the critical access hospital status was taken away from the hospitals.

"That's a lot of money for a hospital," Schumer said. "What is O'Connor's budget?" Stein answered it is between $16 and $17 million.

"That's huge," Schumer said. "That's the difference between a business staying open or a business going under."

Schumer said after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services proposed the change in 2015, he heard from Delaware County hospitals and doctors throughout upstate concerned about the proposed change.

Schumer said "I got to work on this problem and it took a long time. It took dozens of letters," and he spoke with Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to fix the problem.

He announced Wednesday, the proposed change was "scrapped this month," and the hospitals will retain their critical access hospital status.

Stein thanked Schumer on behalf of the nine upstate hospitals that would have lost funding if the rules had been implemented.

After the announcement, he asked the health care professionals in the room what challenges they are facing.

Scott Cohen, chief medical information officer, said staffing is the biggest issue facing area health care facilities. Bojo, Stein, Lisa Betrus, president of Valley Health Services and senior vice president of Bassett Healthcare Network, and Deanna Charles, senior vice president, Chief Ambulatory & Transformation Officer Bassett Healthcare Network, agreed.

Bojo said the staffing shortages affect the big and small hospitals. "Even when the big hospitals are short it trickles down to us at smaller hospitals because we have no place to send our patients," he said. He said sometimes critical patients are held in the emergency room for days until a spot opens up at a bigger hospital.

Charles said the hourly rates a licensed practical nurse makes are comparable to what a person working in a retail store makes, so people are leaving the profession.

The professionals asked for waivers to continue for immigrant health care workers and increased funding for telemedicine.

Schumer asked if everyone in Sidney had broadband internet and said there is $60 billion in the infrastructure bill to expand broadband.

Vicky Klukkert, staff writer, can be reached at vklukkert@thedailystar.com or 607-441-7221.