B/CS in DC: tackling rural health care concerns, keeping hospitals open

BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) – Local leaders arrived today for a tour around Washington D.C. where they will be speaking with decision-makers and national leaders.

The group has a booklet of issues facing residents in Central Texas and they hope these meetings will ensure eyes are on the Brazos Valley. Areas of discussion include education, transportation, and health.

Health is a big topic this year, with the market President for St. Joseph Health, Kim Shaw, on the trip.

“It’s amazing to come here as a delegation with the Chamber of Bryan College Station because as a group we’re all aligned on what’s best for our community and so we’ve come together, we’ve talked about the issues and now we’re ready to present those issues to the people that represent us at the national level,” she said. “It’s very hard to recruit workforce right now and particularly. There’s a physician shortage. So Workforce is a big part of what we’re going to be talking to our leaders here and in the capital about as well as reimbursement.”

This year’s health focus is rural health. This is a specialty for the A&M Rural and Community Health Institute. Executive Director Dr. Kia Parsi says for the past 20 years this has been a big issue they work to tackle.

“There are more rural hospitals in Texas than any other state,” he said. “Rural Hospital closure is a real possibility. In fact, a large percentage of rural hospitals in Texas and across the country are in such Financial shape that they are close to closure.”

Dr. Parsi says as the medical field works to provide healthcare across Central Texas, funding discussions will ensure care can continue.

“With the growth of value-based care and the growth of Medicare Advantage, we need to find alternative models in the rural setting that make sense just as we did in 2000 with the creation of the critical access hospital designation,” he said.

This is exactly what Shaw says she plans to bring to leaders.

“Medicare reimburses our hospitals our rural hospitals at a slightly higher rate so that we can maintain operations and the rule communities but our Medicare managed care or the managed plans aren’t included in that calculation and so as the managed care or MA programs that we have in those communities increase the reimbursement to the hospital decreases and thereby puts that access at risk for those role communities,” she said.

KBTX will be keeping up with the Chamber of Commerce and group in Washington D.C. as their trip continues through the week. We will discuss different topics each day as they work to talk with national leaders.