MAHNOMEN, Minn. — A hospital in rural Minnesota is once again serving as a leader in health care across the state.
While this will provide the financial medicine for them to stay open, others may soon be calling 911.
All 10 inpatient beds inside the Mahnomen Health Center are empty, and they will likely stay that way. The hospital is ceasing inpatient services in the near future.
“We want to be innovative so we don’t wait until the very last minute and go, ‘Uh-oh, now what are we going to do?'” CEO Dale Kruger said.
He explained in recent years there’s been a strong push from insurance companies and Medicare to go with outpatient services.
In 1999, Mahnomen Health Center was the first critical access hospital in Minnesota, part of a federal program to provide health care in rural America. It was designated as a 20-year program.
Now, they are the first Rural Emergency Hospital in Minnesota. The hospital will still have observation rooms.
“We can have the patients come in, they would have a room, they would get services just like any other patient,” said Kruger.
During the last year, there were only 52 people who received inpatient care.
Kruger made it very clear this will not impact emergency room services and other services at Mahnomen Health. This move is expected to generate $1.5 million in additional revenue.
No layoffs are expected.
“If we want to grow our services, if we want to add some more services, this kind of gives us the jumping off spot that we can add more services for our community,” explained Kruger.
“This is the inevitable result of what is going to happen in the state,” said Dr. Rahul Koranne, CEO of the Minnesota Hospital Association.
He said it’s a “good thing” that the Mahnomen area will continue to be served. However, he worries vulnerable patients in other communities may not be so lucky.
“This is not the last of the services that we are going to see drain away from Minnesotans,” Koranne said.
He blames the problem on a lack of financial support from lawmakers in St. Paul, specifically pointing out Medicaid reimbursement rates have not changed since 2019 despite double-digit increases in health care costs.
“They are starving and Minnesotans and their care is going to suffer as a result,” he said.
A date for when inpatient care will cease at the Mahnomen Health Center has not been determined but it is expected to be sometime later this spring.
A public meeting to discuss the end of inpatient care will be held at the Mahnomen Health Center on Tuesday, April 30, at 6 p.m.
Matt Henson is an Emmy award-winning reporter/photographer/editor for WDAY. Prior to joining WDAY in 2019, Matt was the main anchor at WDAZ in Grand Forks for four years.
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