Congressman introduces a bill to save rural hospitals

WASHINGTON — Rep. Cresent Hardy said Friday he introduced a bipartisan bill to help save rural hospitals such as the one in Tonopah that closed in August, leaving area residents hours away from emergency medical facilities.

Had the additional help provided by his new bill been in place, an aide said, Hardy believes it could have been enough to keep the Nye County Regional Medical Center open.

The Nye County Regional Medical Center, a 10-bed facility, was the only hospital within a 100-mile radius. The closest medical centers are in Hawthorne, Battle Mountain, Fallon or Bishop, California.

Hardy, R-Nev., launched an investigation following the closure of Tonopah’s only hospital.

“What we found was shocking,” he said. “More than 30 percent of America’s rural hospitals are vulnerable to conditions that have caused the closure of 71 facilities since 2010.

“Rural communities are home to some of our most resilient people, but they are too often overlooked for that very reason. We need to act now to prevent more families from losing their lifelines in times of emergency.”

He worked on the Rural Health Enhancement and Long Term Health Act (HEALTH) of 2016 with Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala.

The bill would reauthorize the program for the State Offices of Rural Health and boost its available funds another $5 million over five years from roughly $10 million.

Hardy’s aide said the congressman heard from the Nevada State Office of Rural Health that grant funds had decreased over recent years because of budget cuts in Washington.

“This made it harder for them to provide the level of support Nevada’s rural hospitals sometimes need,” the aide said.

Sewell expressed hope that such cuts would help build support among other lawmakers.

“The growing fragility of rural hospitals, combined with inaccessibility issues and grave health disparities, threatens the economic viability of the most underserved communities in our country,” Sewell said.

Although the pair’s bill would authorize the additional spending, the money would come during the annual appropriations process, which, again, appeared to be running into partisan differences.

“Congressman Hardy and the House Republicans are fighting hard to pass a budget and for regular order on the appropriations process,” his aide said. “We are confident that issues like this will receive the appropriate level of consideration at the right time.”

Hardy’s press announcement included statements of support.

“The proposed reauthorization of the SORH grant program will allow the Nevada SORH to continue to provide vital technical assistance and support to rural and frontier hospitals in Nevada,” wrote Dr. Evan Klass and Director Gerald Ackerman with the Nevada State Office of Rural Health.

Teryl Eisinger, executive director of the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health, said rural health care systems nationwide continue to operate tenuously.

“By reauthorizing the State Office of Rural Health grant program, this bipartisan legislation will help provide improved access to quality health care for the 61 million Americans living in rural areas,” Eisenger said.