EUREKA SPRINGS, Ark. — The Eureka Springs Hospital is set to receive almost $2.3 million after a joint announcement from Governor Sarah Sanders, The Arkansas Department of Human Services (ADHS), and the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration (ADFA) confirmed more than $9 million in funding will go towards helping the long-term sustainability of rural Arkansas hospitals.
“Rural healthcare is changing, and I’m proud to support these hospitals as they pursue meaningful, lasting change to ensure Arkansans have access to quality, affordable care," Sanders said.
Eureka Springs Hospital CEO Angie Shaw said the hospital has seven emergency room beds and saw around 3,300 patients last year. She added that running a hospital in a rural community comes with its challenges.
"Labor shortages, the increase in labor costs in general, because when there are shortages, then we have to bring in agency staff," Shaw said. "Across the board, there's been a decrease in reimbursements from insurance payers, and ever since covid, we have also seen a huge increase in supply costs and just operating costs in general."
Shaw added that rural hospitals play a vital role in making sure patients get quality care quickly, instead of, in some cases, having to drive over an hour to the nearest major hospital.
Shaw said that the hospital had already received some of the funding and is looking to use it to best care for the patients that visit.
"It helped us focus on upgrading equipment that we weren't able to and focus on our infrastructure," Shaw said. "We are an older facility, so it helped us make some repairs that we needed to make, and just focus on equipment that we can bring in for the community and services."
Shaw added that in the future, the hospital board is looking at ways to expand the current facility or building a new facility altogether to help modernize the patient spaces.
According to a press release, the Rural Hospital Sustainability Program was designed to help serve patients, strengthen rural communities, preserve access to healthcare, and promote economic development.
There are five hospitals in rural Arkansas set to receive their six-month funding allocations:
- Arkansas Methodist Medical Center - $1,320,542
- Baxter Regional Medical Center - $1,835,647
- Eureka Springs Hospital - $2,294,559
- Fulton County Hospital - $2,500,000
- Howard Memorial Hospital - $1,376,735
To be considered for funding, hospitals will be required to follow certain criteria:
- Select one of two hospital sustainability plan tracks
- Develop a remediation plan with clearly defined benchmarks
- Not use funds for legal fees, debt services, tax obligations, pension funding, or court settlement payments.
“Rural hospitals play a pivotal role in caring for Arkansans across our state, and we are proud of the work that has gone into providing funds to help steady the financial situations of these critical facilities,” said ADHS Secretary Kristi Putnam. “This process took into account the unique situation of each participating hospital, and resulted in sustainability plans that will help ensure these facilities are effectively and efficiently serving patients in their communities well into the future.”
A spokesperson with the ADFA, Jim Hudson, explained that through this funding, rural hospitals will be able to better improve their day-to-day operations which will in turn result in sustainable care for people across Arkansas.
“We can already see the positive impact of this funding six months into the program. The program’s success is the result of collaborative work between the Governor’s Office, General Assembly, DHS, and DFA, and of course, the hospitals," added Hudson.
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