In March, Stillwater (Okla.) Medical System applied for rural emergency designation, which will give them more access to federal funds in exchange for cutting inpatient services.
CFO Courtney Kozikuzki said that the system's rural emergency designation will allow them to break even, Oklahoma Watch reported July 19.
The two facilities in the system lost between $400,000 to $2 million annually in 2021 and 2022 on patient services. Ms. Kozikuzki said that the hospitals averaged a daily inpatient census of no more than three people.
"Before we applied, we had independent third-party auditors do a deep dive," Kozikuski said. "They took our cost report and carved out what inpatient services were providing financially to the facility and then added in the payments we would get for becoming a (rural emergency hospital) to see what it would look like for us."