Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington is applying to become a critical access hospital. After years of operating losses, officials hope the designation will provide financial stability.
Franklin Community Health Network president Barb Sergio says the rural hospital has wanted to apply to be a critical access hospital for years, and a recent law change made it possible. She says the designation will allow Franklin Memorial to receive higher Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements.
"Right now, say for example if you were take a dollar bill, and we as a hospital were to bill the government for your care, we would receive about 30 cents on the dollar even though it might cost us $1.20 to provide the care we've given," Sergio says. "And so as a critical access hospital, the government-payer portion now has to reimburse us for the true cost of providing that care."
Franklin Memorial would have to cut its current number of 65 inpatient beds down to 25. But Sergio says that's in line with typical inpatient numbers, which have hovered in the teens and 20s — even during the pandemic.
"When you review years worth of data and see your numbers have always been right where critical access lives, it really helps you make the decision," she says. "And then when you know you're going to be reimbursed the true cost of providing care in rural America, that's another check in the positive column."
Sergio says there are no plans to cut services. The hospital will hold a public meeting at 5 p.m. June 28. Franklin Memorial hopes its critical access designation will be official by October. It would join 16 others in the state, which is roughly half of Maine's acute care hospitals.
