The Pennsylvania Senate Majority Policy Committee recently held a hearing at Penn Highlands Mon Valley in Monongahela, Pennsylvania, to address challenges surrounding rural health care.
During the hearing, Stephen M. Fontaine, chief executive officer of Penn Highlands Healthcare, will serve as a member of a three-person panel on issues that threaten the sustainability of health care in rural Pennsylvania. He testified on strategies that can be implemented to ensure continuity of care for the population.
Fontaine told senators that Penn Highlands Healthcare System’s eight hospitals contribute more than $1.8 billion to Pennsylvania’s economy and are among the largest employers in the areas they serve. I started my testimony by telling him something. Next, we presented statistics and facts about rural healthcare.
“About one-third of Pennsylvania’s population lives in rural areas, and residents tend to be older,” Fontaine explained. “Having a hospital nearby is a sign of vitality. Without support from the state and federal government, rural hospitals are at risk of disaster.”
Fontaine cited four threats to the sustainability of rural health care, including staffing levels, record inflation, strict government regulations, and limited transportation availability, while also offering solutions.
“We should encourage partnerships with schools to promote careers in the medical field, like Penn Highland Healthcare is doing. To make transportation more accessible, we need more Investing in regional partnerships is needed. Reimbursement increases are needed to cover the cost of treatment. Regulatory modernization is much needed,” Fontaine explained.
In addition to Fontaine, the panel included Kyle Kopko, executive director of the Pennsylvania Rural Center, and Nicole Stallings, president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Association of Hospitals and Health Systems. .
All three panelists agreed that people want to receive care in their communities, and it is important that hospitals and health systems across the commonwealth have the resources to effectively provide care to them. We agreed on one thing.
The hearing also included two additional panels made up of physicians and other health care leaders from across Pennsylvania who testified on improving affordable, safe care and access to care. .
