Hospital highlights - The Best Critical Access Hospital

Your Hospital District Commissioners have challenged the hospital staff with a bold new vision: To be the best we can possibly be. They have told us they want us to be the best Critical Access Hospital in the nation! This is obviously a high goal, but you may wonder “What is a Critical Access Hospital?”

A Critical Access Hospital (CAH) is a Medicare designation awarded to smaller hospitals which serve specific communities. CAHs must meet certain criteria and conditions of participation. For example, a CAH must operate 25 beds or less, have an average length of patient stay less than 96 hours and be a critical resource for the communities served.

Since small hospitals struggle to achieve economies of scale, the CAH designation helps them stay financially viable by paying slightly more favorable Medicare rates than some larger hospitals. Most CAHs are in rural areas. Whitman, Pullman Regional and Gritman hospitals are all CAHs.

When your Commissioners specified CAH in the vision, they were giving us a peer group to compare ourselves too. They were also recognizing that Whitman Hospital will never rival Virginia Mason or Sacred Heart in size or services offered. Whitman will continue to offer the best possible services that are most needed by our communities. For other needs, we will continue to accommodate visiting specialists and improve our referral and transfer systems to larger facilities. This way, we can ensure our patients get the care they need while exercising good stewardship.

As we progress on our quest, we will keep you informed on how well we are doing. We are committed to being open and transparent – you would expect that from the best! Look for details in upcoming articles.

David E. Womack, CEO, WHMC