Garfield Memorial Hospital Designated As A Critical Access Hospital

Garfield Memorial Hospital has now been designated as a Critical Access Hospital. This designation comes from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). CMS has created a category of hospitals they label as Critical Access, which means they cannot be closer than 35 miles to another hospital, must be located in a designated rural area, and also must be 25 beds and under. The designation provides additional funding to help support the vital hospital services needed in rural areas.
Garfield Memorial Hospital Administrator Alberto Vasquez said, “The reason it’s important to have received this Critical Access designation is it provides the hospital additional funding from Medicare. They reimburse the hospital 101 percent of costs associated with providing care to Medicare patients. For Garfield Memorial this equates to approximately one million dollars annually. But the designation in no way changes the care our hospital provides. This Critical Access Hospital status will help provide additional financial stability for the hospital so Garfield Memorial can continue to support the citizens of south central Utah.”
Once this certification process is complete, Garfield Memorial Hospital will be 15-bed Critical Access hospital. The hospital’s current long-term care unit is undergoing certification to be designated as a 21-bed nursing home.
Garfield Memorial Hospital received the 2016 national HealthInsight Quality Award for providing exceptional quality of care. Garfield Memorial Hospital had approximately 600 admissions this past year, provided over $500,000 in charity care, and has 120 employees.