Ringgold County Hospital gets new affiliation
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RCH to join University of Iowa Health System
By KEN GARNER
MOUNT AYR, Iowa — The Ringgold County Hospital has found a new partner as the Board of Directors unanimously voted to become a Tier 1 member of the University of Iowa Healthcare system during its regular board meeting on August 26.
“The affiliation agreement with the University of Iowa will allow Ringgold County Hospital the opportunity to operate with full independence in supporting the community, patients and staff,” Hospital acting CEO Trevor Toft said in an email. “At the same time, the agreement provides the hospital with assistance in developing a patient focused quality plan, physician credentialing support and provider based peer review access. Additionally, the affiliation helps fulfill additional requirements under CMS’s conditions of participation for critical access hospitals.”
During discussions by the board prior to the vote, members focused on the autonomy the hospital would gain with an agreement with the University of Iowa.
Prior to the vote Board Chairman Dr. Michael Hopkins expressed his support for the affiliation with the University of Iowa.
My own personal opinion is the University of Iowa offers us the opportunity to govern our own ship,” he said.
Previously the hospital was in an affiliate agreement with MercyOne, which officially ended on August 4. Since that expiration date the hospital had an extension in place with MercyOne through October 31 for basic affiliate purposes.
With the University of Iowa partnership, Ringgold County Hospital maintains a much greater sense of autonomy at the local level.
Although the agreement with the University of Iowa is at the Tier 1 level, the board is exploring joining the system at a higher tier.
“(This agreement) is very focused on what this hospital wants to become,” Board member Dr. Dane Johnson said.
The cost for RCH to become a Tier 1 affiliate is $5,354 per year. That cost is significantly less expensive than the previous agreement with MercyOne. Although the hospital was in a higher tier agreement previously, the Tier 1 cost for MercyOne is $9,600 per year.
Becoming a Tier 1 affiliate now, allows the hospital time to explore joining the University of Iowa at a higher tier later. A higher tier affiliation would require a change in medical records systems and of course a larger cost, but still gives Ringgold County Hospital autonomy.
Currently, RCH has an EMR agreement in place that does not expire for nearly three years, but if a decision to join at a higher level would need to be made within the next year to assure it can transition in a timely manner.
The Board also previously heard an affiliation presentation from Unity Point, but did not receive a followup request for additional information from the organization.
During the meeting Dr. Bishop reported that she was just informed that RCH will now qualify as an “underseved location” by the National Health Service Corps for physicians committed to going to facilities in these locations to qualify for loan repayment assistance.
The board was also updated on staffing as interviews were recently conducted with candidates for open positions and that there has been strong interest in the open ED position.
