In 1996, Lisa Brooks joined the staff of Comanche County Hospital in Coldwater, Kansas, as chief financial officer and became administrator in October 2019. CCH is a Critical Access Hospital serving approximately 1,800 residents spread out over 790 square miles.
According to Rural Health Information Hub at www.ruralhealthinfo.org/topics/critical-access-hospitals, a CAH is a designation given to eligible rural hospitals by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. It is designed to reduce the financial vulnerability of rural hospitals and improve access to healthcare by keeping essential services in rural communities.
Those essential services are still available to Comanche County residents, but the coronavirus has made cash flow a major concern as patients are hesitant to come in for routine lab, X-rays or office visits.
“We would like to remind people that we are still open for business and are here to meet their healthcare needs,” Brooks said. “We still need to be here when this is over and we fully intend to be.”
As of press time, Comanche County did not have a confirmed coronavirus case, but Brooks says CCH is prepared.
“We are screening everyone at the door and taking temperatures. All doors are locked but the front door, even the emergency room,” Brooks said. “We are preparing for the worst and hoping for the best.”
The hospital was remodeled in 2008 and, at that time, a negative pressure room was included. The negative pressure room has two beds and can be switched to its own ventilation system separate from the rest of the hospital’s heating and air conditioning system.
“If we admit a COVID-19 patient, we can care for them in this room and limit exposure to the rest of the hospital,” Brooks said.
Personal protective equipment is also necessary for limiting exposure to staff and patients. Like many hospitals across the country, Brooks says, CCH is struggling to obtain those supplies. However, thanks to Chelsey Jackson, materials manager at CCH, and Britt Lenertz, Comanche County Emergency Management director, they are working tirelessly to get us as many supplies as they can.
Brooks also thanks community members who have dedicated their time to sewing masks for hospital staff.
The government has offered some much appreciated assistance to CAHs through the recently passed CARES Act. CCH is not eligible for a small business loan, but the act has provided some funding and relaxed some mandatory regulations. Those regulations include number of beds available, Medicare payments and telehealth availability, as well as hour limits for patient stays and swing bed restrictions. All of these add up to better care for those patients in need and protection for the surrounding communities.
“I have been so proud and so impressed with our staff,” Brooks said. “They are stepping up in so many ways. With our emergency manager, EMS, health department, nursing homes, pharmacy, schools, law enforcement, businesses, clinic and hospital, we have pulled together to protect our communities as best we can.”
The work of Brooks and her staff recently earned CCH a place on the Top 20 Critical Access Hospital list determined by The Chartis Center for Rural Health. The honor was announced in the following press release from the National Rural Health Association.
The Top 20 Critical Access Hospitals, including CCH, scored best among critical access hospitals and an awards ceremony will be held during NRHA’s Critical Access Hospital Conference in Kansas City, Missouri this fall.
The Top 20 Critical Access Hospital winners are those hospitals who have achieved success in the overall performance based on a composite rating from eight indices of strength: inpatient market share, outpatient market share, quality, outcomes, patient perspective, cost, charge and financial efficiency. This group was selected from The Chartis Center for Rural Health’s 2020 Top 100 CAH list, which was released earlier this year.
Those hospitals that have been recognized as Top 20 Critical Access Hospital “best practice recipients” have achieved success one of two key areas of performance:
—Quality index: A rating of hospital performance based on the percentile rank across the indicators of Hospital Compare Process of Care measures.
—Patient perspective index: A rating of hospital performance aggregated and ranked across 10 domains of the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems.
“Comanche County Hospital is proud of the efforts of its physicians and staff who have contributed to our hospital achieving this designation,” Brooks said. “Our results as a Top 20 in Quality means our community can count on us to deliver services they need now and in the future.”
Jennifer Theurer can be reached at 620-227-1858 or [email protected].
