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A Google Street View image of Wadley Regional Medical Center in Hope in 2013 (© Google)
Southwest Arkansas Regional Medical Center in Hope is working to become a critical access hospital, less than a year after a group bought the 48-bed hospital out of bankruptcy.
The rural hospital has applied to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for the designation and expects to be inspected this month, said Clay Hobbs, chief operating officer of Pafford Medical Services of Hope, operator of the largest regional emergency medical service systems in Arkansas. The hospital expects to be reclassified by the end of the month, which will “offer financial stability for the facility to where we can be stable financially for years to come,” he said.
The CAH designation improves the finances of rural hospitals and expands access to care by keeping essential services in rural communities, according to CMS’ website. And as a critical access hospital, Southwest Arkansas Regional Medical Center will be reimbursed at its cost for Medicare patients, Hobbs said. The hospital also could be eligible for grants. “So it provides a lot of opportunity for us to make sure that we are collecting what it costs to operate the hospital,” Hobbs said.
But with the CAH designation, the hospital will have to drop to 25 beds. It also will also cut its geriatric behavioral health unit from 12 beds to 10 beds. In that unit, which receives patients from across Arkansas and surrounding states, the hospital is caring for patients with some type of behavioral issue, such as dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.
“Our mission always has been to stabilize the hospital and provide access for patients in our residence here in southwest Arkansas, … and having stability is being able to have those finances in place,” Hobbs said.
Pafford’s related company, Pafford Health Systems Inc., bought the hospital out of bankruptcy from Steward Health Care of Dallas last yearwhen the hospital was called Wadley Regional Medical Center.
Pafford submitted its bid for the hospital in partnership with the city of Hope and Hempstead County, which agreed to purchase the real estate.
“It’s been definitely a whirlwind of a year,” Hobbs said. “We’ve been reimagining health care here in southwest Arkansas, and that reimagination includes stabilization and returning services to our community that had previously been taken away.”
Hospital officials brought primary care doctors and nurse practitioners back into the medical office portion of the hospital, which had not been used in years, Hobbs said. “We wanted to really create a medical home for our patients here in the southwest Arkansas region,” he said.
Hobbs said that about $8 million has been invested so far in the hospital, which includes the purchase price.
“The building had not been maintained as it should have been over the years,” he said. “Steward Health Care really had neglected the infrastructure of the building and the equipment.” He said that the roof and the heating, ventilating and air-conditioning system need to be replaced. The hospital is is also replacing some medical equipment.
It also is working with Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ office to obtain money for rural hospitals, he said. The hospital “has not received a dime in funding for the hospital during COVID or following COVID,” Hobbs said. “So we’re very hopeful that our Legislature and the governor’s office will provide assistance so that we can provide infrastructure for the building.”
Hempstead County and surrounding counties have supported Southwest Arkansas Regional Medical Center, he said. Last year, community leaders feared that closure of the hospital meant that Pafford’s ambulances would be transporting patients to hospitals that were an hour or 90 minutes away.
“We all came together with one mission and one goal, and that was to save our hospital,” Hobbs said. “And it’s been successful so far.”
