A decade after it abruptly closed, North Adams Regional Hospital celebrated a return to full service under the ownership of Berkshire Health Systems with a ribbon cutting on March 28th.
“By offering access to critical health care services close to home, we plan to create a more positive health outcomes for patients to reduce health disparities in North County, and to improve overall quality of life for the community, in North Adams and across Berkshire County," said President and CEO Darlene Rodowicz. “It happened because of a combination of legislative support partnership with state administrative and regulatory agencies, vendors, contractors, community leaders, former patients, community members, healthcare staff, we all did it together.”
Much was made of the work done by elected officials to change federal guidelines for critical access hospital designation that would allow for the hospital’s reopening.
“We were able to change the language based upon a single lane highway, a mountainous region, difficult weather in the winter, and the fact that North Adams needed a full-service critical access hospital,” said Democratic Congressman Richard Neal from the 1st district.
“When you think about what critical access hospitals can do, they can respond to the needs of the community- What you need, what your family needs, what your parents need," said Massachusetts Secretary of Health and Human Services Katie Walsh. "And they can flex the beds in the way that makes the most sense for the communities they serve. And that critical access flexibility is why this hospital will be standing many, many years from now.”
However, three months after the reopening, North Adams Regional has yet to finalize its status as a critical access hospital.
In a statement, BHS describes the situation as part of an ongoing process of working with the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, or CMS, and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, or DPH:
“BHS began by outlining a roadmap with CMS and DPH to ensure that a viable path to attaining Critical Access Hospital status was achievable, and the approval of the Determination of Need showed us that we were on the right path. North Adams Regional Hospital is licensed by the Commonwealth and is operating as a hospital under the license.”
The situation was first reported by The Berkshire Eagle.
BHS says a survey conducted by the DPH on behalf of the CMS after the March ribbon cutting generated “recommendations for improvement” for the hospital:
“North Adams Regional has addressed the recommendations provided by CMS and DPH for improvements raised during the initial survey. We are currently awaiting an additional survey that will be conducted by DPH before a final decision is made on CAH designation. The timing for that survey is fluid as any such survey by DPH, CMS or agencies like The Joint Commission are unannounced.”
The critical access hospital designation was created by Congress in 1997 in an effort to curb the closure of hundreds of rural hospitals throughout the 80s and 90s. Facilities that qualify receive cost-based reimbursement from Medicare as well as access to grants and educational and technical resources. Qualification requirements include having under 25 beds, being over 35 miles from the nearest hospital – or more than 15 miles away if in a mountainous area or reliant on secondary roads – and offering 24/7 emergency services.
