Damond Boatwright, CEO of Springfield, Ill.-based Hospital Sisters Health System, said a proposed bill regarding hospital closures would require regulation that is not feasible for health systems.
The Hospital Stability and Health Services Act, introduced July 25 by Sen. Tammy Baldwin, aims to protect patients from sudden hospital closures, according to a news release from the senator.
The legislation would require hospitals to notify HHS at least 90 days before closing and to continue providing services during the notification period.
"I am encouraged attention is being paid to the dire situation facing nonprofit rural community hospitals like ours," Mr. Boatwright said in an Aug. 6 statement. "Yet, requiring more onerous regulation or mandating that community hospital systems maintain comprehensive services while sustaining millions of dollars in financial losses is not feasible."
Mr. Boatwright added that in order to protect rural healthcare, it is necessary to find solutions to "regulatory complexities, reimbursement challenges, escalating operating costs and unnecessary competition for patients."
The bill comes after HSHS closed two Wisconsin hospitals this year: St. Joseph's Hospital in Chippewa Falls and Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire.
It was later found that the state Department of Health Services does not have the authority to open an investigation into the health system or Mr. Boatwright, after Eau Claire City Attorney Stephen Nick requested an investigation.
"The time has come to work together to find collaborative and creative solutions to solve the underlying, systemic issues that threaten rural health care, rather than put more pressure on the hospitals and caregivers who are trying to save it," Mr. Boatwright said in the Aug. 6 statement.