Plano, Texas-based Community Hospital Corp. formed a nonprofit charity organization to raise funds for financially struggling rural hospitals.
CHC said the Rural & Community Healthcare Collaborative will provide no- and low-cost consulting services to these hospitals "to help ensure their solvency and sustainability." RCHC will raise funds for the hospitals through various means, including individual, foundation and corporate sources.
"Strong hospitals make healthy communities, and rural and community hospitals are critical components of our nation's healthcare delivery system. Sadly, rural and community hospitals have been closing at an accelerating pace since 2010," RCHC President and CEO Emeritus Michael Williams said in a prepared statement.
Mr. Williams, who also serves as president and CEO Emeritus of CHC, notes these hospitals face a number of difficulties, such as declining reimbursements, location in a remote area and a challenging payer mix, which threaten their survival.
But he said, "At RCHC, we wholeheartedly believe that hospitals should not be forced to close if they have the potential to succeed with the right help."
CHC said RCHC is already in the process of fundraising efforts for rural hospitals, and a small group of CHC employees and supporters has already provided seed funding exceeding $50,000.
RCHC also developed a screening tool called the Healthy Hospital Report Card. CHC said the HHRC "uses public data to give hospitals, communities, foundations and government entities insight into the overall health of their hospital." For instance, the tool can help identify hospitals at risk of closure as well as improvement areas at hospitals.
More information about RCHC and the report card is available here.