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Members of the hospital community joined Wolf Administration leaders today to announce a new pilot program designed to improve rural community health and provide financial stability for rural hospitals.

The Rural Health Model is a global budget payment model in which hospitals are provided a fixed amount of funding for a fixed period of time to improve the health of Pennsylvania’s rural communities, rather than a model that reimburses hospitals for individual services or cases. The program is a partnership between Pennsylvania’s rural hospital community, the state Department of Health, and the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation.

The pilot formally began January 1, 2019, with five rural hospitals participating in the first year of the program. The first-year pilot hospital participants are:

◾Barnes-Kasson Hospital

◾Endless Mountains Health Systems

◾Geisinger Jersey Shore Hospital

◾UPMC Kane

◾Wayne Memorial Hospital

Barnes-Kasson Hospital took delivery of a new ambulance on November 7th. The new unit will be placed in service within the next few weeks, after communication system installation and inspection are completed.

The new unit will replace an older, high mileage ambulance that is ready to be retired from service. The new ambulance was purchased from J&J Emergency Vehicle Sales, Moscow, PA, and is a 2017 Ford T-250, McCoy Miller Type II. The unit has a gasoline engine, as opposed to diesel, which makes it more economical to run and maintain.

The ambulance has a Ferno-Washington 35X PROFlexx patient cot that has a low center of gravity making it less likely to flip or tip during transfers and transport. The cot, which has a load limit of 750 pounds, has a locking system that will protect the patient and the crew during transports.

The ambulance cost a total of $79,000 and was funded in part by a community fund drive that raised $14,771 to date. Barnes-Kasson would like to thank all community members who donated to our fund drive to make the purchase of this new ambulance a reality. Future annual fund drives will be used to maintain Barnes-Kasson's Emergency Medical Service fleet for service to the community.

On July 6th, 2017 Senator Bob Casey visited Barnes-Kasson Hospital to discuss healthcare legislation. Thanks to Senator Casey for his visit!

Sara Adornato and Senator Casey