Keisling Wants Focus On Rural Hospitals’ Futures

Representative Kelly Keisling wants to see rural hospitals across the Upper Cumberland and across the state change for the future.

Keisling’s Rural Hospital Transformation Act calls on the state to work with local hospitals to create a plan to deal with a changing health care system.

“We want to create a plan that, no, won’t necessarily provide funding to keep the doors open, that’s not the point,” Keisling said. “But to work with consultants to see how they could do thing better.”

Seven rural hospitals across Tennessee have closed since 2012. West Tennessee’s Haywood County has lost all three of its county hospitals within the last several years.

Keisling said the issue shows up inside his district which includes Macon, Clay, Pickett, Scott, and part of Fentress Counties.

“Within our house district, we have four rural hospitals that employ almost 900 hundred people,” Keisling said.

Keisling said the closing of hospitals or significantly reduced care can not only puts the health of local citizens at risk, it can limit growth.

“For communities to be able to get out and recruit industry, of course one of the first things that those folks ask for are schools and health care,” Keisling said.

If approved, the Rural Hospital Transformation Act would call on leaders within the Departments of Health, Labor, Economic and Community Development as well as TennCare to work together to formulate a strategy for the future of rural hospitals. That strategy could include new delivery methods, new partnerships and potential operational changes, Keisling said.

Local hospitals could apply for grant money to fund a consultants assessment, Keisling said.

The Tennessee Hospitals Association found in a 2017 report that 50 percent of the state’s acute care hospitals are considered rural hospitals.

Both the house and senate have considered the bill. It will next be heard as part of budget deliberations.