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Coalition: ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ will result in ‘deep’ safety net cuts; proposed cuts to provider taxes are harmful
BY MELISSA PATRICK KENTUCKY HEALTH NEWS A coalition that works to meet the basic needs of Kentuckians provided an update June 17 on state and federal policies that impact the state’s safety net programs, with much of the discussion focusing on how the U.S. House-passed budget reconciliation bill would harm such programs. Emily Beauregard, executive
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Emergency psychiatric unit fills urgent need for mental health care in Kentucky
BY VIKKI FRANKLIN UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY Since opening its doors on July 30, UK HealthCare’s Emergency Psychiatric Assessment, Treatment and Healing unit has already helped more than 1,800 people get the help they need. The goal of EmPATH is to decompress emergency departments and inpatient units and promote better outcomes through rapid treatment access in
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Wheeler, regional stakeholders celebrate Senate Bill 280 becoming law
FRANKFORT — Gov. Andy Beshear held a ceremonial bill signing of Sen. Phillip Wheeler’s Senate Bill 280 Friday afternoon. The bill creates a new program to allow classified rural hospitals to receive the same Medicaid reimbursements that either the University of Kentucky College of Medicine or the University of Louisville School of Medicine normally receive.
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Hatfield leads transition to reopen Williamson Memorial Hospital
BY KYLE LOVERN MOUNTAIN CITIZEN WILLIAMSON, W.Va. — Although he took a longer route, CEO Tim Hatfield went from “across the river” at ARH (Appalachian Regional Hospital) to “up on the hill” at Williamson Memorial. For many years, that is how most people referred to the two local hospitals in the Tug Valley area –
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Kentucky COVID hospitalizations more than double, exceed U.S. rate, but hospitals say they have been small and ‘manageable’
BY MELISSA PATRICK KENTUCKY HEALTH NEWS Kentucky has seen an uptick in COVID-19 cases, and local outbreaks, along with other illnesses, have shut down several school districts. This has also been reflected in hospital admissions, which is considered one of the most reliable indicators for tracking the virus since the end of the public-health emergency
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Sixteen of Kentucky’s 72 rural hospitals are at risk of closing, and 10 of them are at immediate risk
BY AL CROSS KENTUCKY HEALTH NEWS Sixteen of Kentucky’s 72 rural hospitals are at risk of closing, and 10 of those are at immediate risk of closing, according to the latest analysis of hospitals’ Medicare cost reports by the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform, an advocacy group. The report doesn’t name the 16
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Two Kentucky hospitals, in Lexington and Prestonsburg, each lose $2.4 million in very different lawsuits over ‘patient dumping’
Case tried by District Judge Claria Horn Two Kentucky hospitals have recently lost lawsuits that charged them with “patient dumping,” generally defined as discharging patients who are uninsured or unable to pay – or refusing to admit them in the first place, reports Andrew Wolfson of the Louisville Courier Journal. The judgments were virtually the
