BRADENTON, Fla. - Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal initiated a pilot program to prop up the state's financially ailing rural hospitals.
Eight facilities have closed or attempted to restructure in the last three years. Another 15 rural hospitals are considered financially fragile, with six operating on a day-to-day basis, according to a Rural Hospital Stabilization Committee appointed by Deal.
The pilot program, recommended by the committee, is designed to implement a so-called "hub and spoke" model at four facilities in order to relieve cost pressures on emergency departments and ensure that patients receive the best and most efficient treatment.
The program will increase the use of new and existing technology, and infrastructure in smaller critical-access hospitals. It would include the use of Internet and telemedicine by ambulances, school clinics, federally qualified health centers, public health departments, and local physicians.
The four facilities that will benefit from the initial program are Union General, Appling Health System, Crisp Regional, and Emanuel Regional Medical Center.
Deal ordered an additional $3 million to be allocated from this year's budget to enable the State Office of Rural Health to implement the pilot program.
"Just as a medical emergency can't wait, neither can we wait to act upon these recommendations," Deal said. "It is my hope that these efforts are not a temporary fix, but rather the beginning of a long-lasting road to recovery for our rural health systems."
The Rural Hospital Stabilization Committee also recommended maintaining the state's existing Certificate of Need laws to protect existing rural hospital infrastructure.
In another area the committee suggested legislative actions that included expanding the scope of practice for midlevel providers, such as nurse practitioners and physician assistants, to help bolster health care resources in rural communities.
As recently as November, Hutcheson Medical Center in rural northwest Georgia filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Oconee Regional Health System in the center of the state entered a management services agreement with Navicent Health Inc. on Jan. 29 to shore up its finances.
Navicent agreed to guarantee Oconee's bond payments, and provide a $5 million line of credit. The deal was approved by a majority of bondholders.
Facing acceleration of its bonds due to uncured covenant violations, Standard & Poor's lowered its ratings on the hospital's bonds to CCC from B in March 2014.
