Rural hospitals in eastern Washington state face bankruptcy
The beatings will continue until morale improves: Because the state government’s panicked reaction to the Wuhan virus resulting in a banning of almost all procedures, rural hospitals in eastern Washington state now face financial collapse, bankruptcy, and possible closure.
With the state’s support, federal aid and advanced Medicare loans, the critical access hospital will be able to stay afloat – for now. But the financial impact of COVID-19 on Washington state’s rural hospitals cannot be understated. “This is unprecedented. There’s no way you could be financially prepared for this,” Jacqueline Barton True, vice president of rural health programs at the Washington State Hospital Association, said. “This sort of financial devastation is not something that we could have prepared for, and I have a lot of concerns about what happens if help doesn’t come soon enough.”
Some rural hospitals have received their first installment of funds from the federal CARES Act. Those payments are about $400,000 to $600,000 on average for smaller hospitals, according to WSHA.
Despite having a robust way for most rural hospitals to access community taxpayer support through the public hospital district model, rural hospitals in Eastern Washington are losing money on a daily basis as they balance pandemic preparations with canceled elective surgeries, primary care or patient therapy.
The article is long, outlining in frightening detail the impending collapse of the entire rural hospital network. The bottom line however remains the same: The state government arbitrarily decided that most medical procedures were “non-essential” and banned them so that the hospital would not be overwhelmed by Wuhan flu patients.
Those patients have never arrived in the feared numbers however. Instead we are looking at a normal flu season, when you combine coronavirus with flu cases. Lacking the revenue stream from all other cases, the hospitals are losing money and face bankruptcy.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
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The beatings will continue until morale improves: Because the state government’s panicked reaction to the Wuhan virus resulting in a banning of almost all procedures, rural hospitals in eastern Washington state now face financial collapse, bankruptcy, and possible closure.
With the state’s support, federal aid and advanced Medicare loans, the critical access hospital will be able to stay afloat – for now. But the financial impact of COVID-19 on Washington state’s rural hospitals cannot be understated. “This is unprecedented. There’s no way you could be financially prepared for this,” Jacqueline Barton True, vice president of rural health programs at the Washington State Hospital Association, said. “This sort of financial devastation is not something that we could have prepared for, and I have a lot of concerns about what happens if help doesn’t come soon enough.”
Some rural hospitals have received their first installment of funds from the federal CARES Act. Those payments are about $400,000 to $600,000 on average for smaller hospitals, according to WSHA.
Despite having a robust way for most rural hospitals to access community taxpayer support through the public hospital district model, rural hospitals in Eastern Washington are losing money on a daily basis as they balance pandemic preparations with canceled elective surgeries, primary care or patient therapy.
The article is long, outlining in frightening detail the impending collapse of the entire rural hospital network. The bottom line however remains the same: The state government arbitrarily decided that most medical procedures were “non-essential” and banned them so that the hospital would not be overwhelmed by Wuhan flu patients.
Those patients have never arrived in the feared numbers however. Instead we are looking at a normal flu season, when you combine coronavirus with flu cases. Lacking the revenue stream from all other cases, the hospitals are losing money and face bankruptcy.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Not only states, but counties should be allowed to open case by case. This is a list of all 39 counties in Washington state with cases and deaths of coronavirus in ascending order. 21 counties have no deaths, and most are in the rural eastern half of Washington state which is mostly farm land.
County | Cases | Deaths
Garfield | 0 | 0
Columbia | 1 | 0
Ferry | 1 | 0
Lincoln | 2 | 0
Pacific | 2 | 0
Pend Oreille | 2 | 0
Wahkiakum | 2 | 0
Skamania | 3 | 0
Stevens | 8 | 1
Asotin | 12 | 0
Grays Harbor | 12 | 0
Whitman | 13 | 0
Clallam | 14 | 0
Kittitas | 14 | 0
Okanogan | 14 | 0
San Juan | 15 | 0
Klickitat | 16 | 3
Lewis | 21 | 2
Mason | 22 | 0
Jefferson | 28 | 0
Walla Walla | 28 | 0
Cowlitz | 29 | 0
Douglas | 32 | 1
Adams | 41 | 0
Chelan | 71 | 5
Thurston | 94 | 1
Kitsap | 138 | 1
Grant | 141 | 2
Island | 157 | 8
Franklin | 187 | 4
Skagit | 238 | 8
Clark | 266 | 15
Whatcom | 275 | 26
Spokane | 302 | 15
Benton | 314 | 34
Yakima | 771 | 36
Pierce | 1,109 | 32
Snohomish | 2,101 | 94
King | 5,135 | 346
As a resident in Eastern Washington, yes it is largely rural, and yes some of these hospitals will disappear due to Gov. Inslee’s ban on elective surgery. The article is from the Spokesmen Review out of Spokane, so just take it with a grain of salt, many of us call it the “Socialist Review” for many reasons.
Most of these hospitals on the east-side are level 4 or 5, the lowest trauma care levels. They are there to stabilize you for transport. If it is something serious, like a heart attack or cancer, you will have to get a helicopter (we call it Life-Flight) over to Spokane or Bellevue.
On the lighter side- I have been to Garfield County and there are more livestock than there are people. You do not have to worry about six foot distancing there, try six mile distancing, that is their spacing!
Jay
I think elective surgery in these conditions, a declared national emergency, will not be able to be covered by any insurance when you think about it. What if someone has a surgery and happens to contract Covid? I do not think that there is any liability insurance for this situation.
(Jay: Any Squatch story’s)
Cotour,
Yes I do have many stories, but all the sightings are linked to one individual. This local individual has been seen many times with his shirt off and that is when the stories in the paper/radio appear. He is not Bigfoot, just hairy. There is usually a disclaimer on the radio whenever sightings occur.
I saw the guy who is “Bigfoot” a few months ago and he is now going bald. Bigfoot will now blind you. The legend continues.
Jay
Funny.