News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
It could be late May before Celina’s Cumberland River Hospital reopens.
CRH owner Johnny Presley said that’s because the federal government hasn’t approved the hospital’s Medicare provider number.
“As of last Tuesday, they said they had received my application and have up to 180 days to process it,” Presley said. “Unfortunately, it looks like that it could be up to 180-days before we can get this thing open. We’re going to have to push back our timelines until we get our Medicare provider numbers. Once we get that, then we can apply for our Tenncare numbers and primary insurance numbers.”
Presley announced in October that he would open a clinic at the hospital November 15 and emergency room services January 1. The delay at the federal level forced the hospital to turn patients away when they began showing up for clinic services last month.
Presley said he’s not going to set anymore opening dates because of the “bureaucratic process” he’s having to go through.
“Unfortunately, I thought I could get through this process a lot quicker,” Presley said. “It’s just a quagmire and our system is terribly broken at the federal level.”
Financing has also caused an issue. Presley said he’s been working with banks to sure up USDA financing for the rural hospital.
“I don’t understand why that we should not receive the USDA loan for that,” Presley said. “We’re just in the current process of sending that application in, and that can probably take up to three months as well.”
