Here we are in mid-August! For some folks that means the start of a new school year, start of a new college experience, beginning of the empty nest syndrome, and for others new arrivals! Congratulations to Director Stephen Stoddard and his family on the arrival of their new daughter, Jessica Faith.

This month I only want to share one thing – if you have not reacted to the release of the Office of the Inspector General of Health and Human Services (HHS) report on Friday concerning the Critical Access Hospital program, please do so immediately! Read the full report here (pdf).

Our partners at NRHA have been working full steam since early last Friday morning when the report was released.  Yesterday afternoon I listened in on a very informative phone discussion that laid out the facts about the CAH Program and provided tools and strategies for each one of us to review and use to prepare a response to the report to share with our elected officials. 

Here are some links to provide you with up to-date information, sample letters, and contact info to make those contacts: 

NRHA’s Government Affairs Page: http://www.ruralhealthweb.org/go/left/government-affairs/response-to-2013-oig-cah-report

NRHA’s Blog  (includes links to the media coverage of the report since release): http://blog.ruralhealthweb.org/2013/08/nrha-busy-setting-the-record-straight-on-cahs/  

Tim Size, Executive Director of Rural Wisconsin Hospital Cooperative – was at it early on Friday morning, posting comments to the numerous articles that are linked above in the NRHA Blog – Thanks for his dedication and support for rural health overall and particularly the CAH Program.  You can see his response at the bottom of this article in Kaiser Health News:  http://capsules.kaiserhealthnews.org/index.php/2013/08/hhs-watchdog-says-rural-hospital-program-needs-a-trim/ 

If you have any questions, need more information or what to discuss the potential impact if the report recommendations were fully implemented on your network, please let me know.    As we receive additional information about strategies and tools to assist you in responding to the report, we will pass them along to you through direct email updates. 

Enjoy the remainder of August!