Central Minnesota Hospital At Risk of Closing

A program that was intended to prevent fraudulent billing in the Minnesota healthcare system has a glitch, and it's causing major concerns for many hospitals across our state.

Minnesota has approximately 100 critical access hospitals, and if Onamia is experiencing these problems, I'm assuming they all are.

A MAJOR GLITCH FOR RURAL HEALTHCARE SYSTEMS

What's the problem? Although unintentional, 3 million dollars is being withheld because of the glitch for Onamia's hospital alone. Whatever the problem is, it's marking things as fraudulent rather than paying them.

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What does that mean? It means legitimate claims are not being paid to the hospital. Money is needed to keep hospital doors open, and it's become a dire situation. If the hospital closes, it could also mean that five other associated clinics could close as well.

WITHIN WEEKS OF CLOSING HOSPITAL DOORS

That hospital alone employs approximately 400 people and serves hundreds of rural residents. This system glitch could cause the hospital to close in a matter of weeks.

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PROTECTING THEIR COMMUNITY

Some leaders at the hospital have taken a 10% paycut to try to keep the doors open and hope that the fix comes soon, but when they ask when it will be taken care of, the answer is always that they are aware of the issue, but no timeline is offered on when it will be fixed.

If the fix comes soon, everything can get back on track in just a few days, but right now, the hospital is looking at ways to stay open, even considering going to banks for loans to keep the doors open.