Cobleskill (N.Y.) Regional Hospital is applying for critical access hospital classification to turn around its widening deficit, The Daily Gazette reports.
The hospital, part of Cooperstown, N.Y.-based Bassett Healthcare Network, said the designation would infuse $3.5 million a year into the facility, which is operating at a $2.5 million deficit on a $27 million annual budget. Cobleskill Regional Hospital blames its nearly 10 percent loss margin on multiple factors, including the exit of a medical provider who generated clinical and surgical visits for the hospital.
To qualify for CAH certification, which will allow Cobleskill Regional Hospital to collect 101 percent of Medicare, the hospital must decertify 15 of its 40 beds to meet CMS' 25-bed limit on CAH hospitals. Hospital President and CEO Eric Stein told The Daily Gazette the hospital has less than a 50 percent occupancy rate, only filling 26 of its beds now.