Carthage Area Hospital maintains certification as a critical-access hospital

CARTHAGE, N.Y. — Carthage Area Hospital announced that it will maintain its designation as a critical-access hospital, which is a major financial relief to the organization.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on Nov. 1 issued final regulations redefining what is considered a “primary road” for the purposes of the “critical access” certification. The Baltimore, Maryland–based CMS is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The modification defines a “primary road of travel” as a numbered federal highway for determining the driving distance to a critical-access hospital and its proximity to other providers. That highway could include interstates, intrastates, expressways, or any other numbered federal highway with two or more lanes each way; or a numbered state highway with two or more lanes each way.

Carthage Area Hospital was at risk of losing millions of dollars in federal funding with the proposed regulation changes, which would have stripped the hospital of its critical access designation and the reimbursement funds that accompany it.

In July, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer and U.S. Representative Elise Stefanik (R–Schuylerville) announced that after “years of fighting to protect” the critical access status for Upstate hospitals, federal officials had “heeded” their calls for change, per the Carthage Area Hospital announcement.

The hospital also noted that Schumer explained in a press release that the 2015 policy change “did not go through the proper protocols required by law,” leaving rural hospitals “vulnerable” and potentially costing them millions of dollars.

“Congresswoman Stefanik and Senator Schumer’s support was crucial in securing healthcare provided by critical access hospitals in the North Country,” Rich Duvall, CEO of Carthage Area Hospital, said.