Where Caring and Community Come Together

Recently there has been a lot of news coverage regarding the prices hospitals charge. It all started with the excellent article in Time Magazine called, “The Bitter Pill.” Then, on May 9, 2013, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released a list of hospital-specific charges for the more than 3,000 U.S. hospitals that receive Medicare Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) payments for the top 100 most frequently billed discharges in 2011. Unfortunately, since Southwest Memorial is not part of the IPPS, we’re a critical access hospital, our data was not part of this release.

In order to help our community compare, below is a list of average hospital charges for Southwest Memorial using the same criteria the government followed for their data. To compare, use our prices below and lookup the same DRG for any other hospital using the link above.

Southwest Health System reviews its charges on an annual basis, and sets the charges based on cost, just like any other business. We also strive to keep our charges among the lowest in Colorado.

Did you know that Montezuma County has about 5,300 residents who are uninsured and not presently eligible for Medicaid? These individuals would greatly benefit from the expansion of Medicaid coverage in Colorado as proposed by the Affordable Care Act. Expanding the coverage for the uninsured leads to an overall reduction in the costs of uncompensated care that ends up being shifted to insured patients and the business community that provides health insurance to their employees.

Last year, Southwest Health System provided $2M in financial assistance and another $5.4M in bad debts. The residents of Cortez and Montezuma County need, and deserve, a financially strong hospital. SHS is a major economic driver in Montezuma County with 384 employees, a payroll of $19.2M and, related economic impact of over $22.4M.

Watch the short video below to learn how this expansion may help you.

Southwest Memorial Hospital was recently named one of the HealthStrong™ Top 100 Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) in the United States. “Being named to this list is testimony to the great dedication of all of you not only to Southwest Health System, but to our patients and our community,’ said Kent Helwig, CEO. 'Southwest Memorial Hospital has been named to that 2013 list of Top 100 Critical Access Hospitals. Of the 1,331 critical access hospitals in the United States, our facility is one of the nation’s best rural safety-net institutions.”

Other HealthStrong™ Top 100 Critical Access Hospitals in Colorado included Aspen Valley Hospital in Aspen, Heart of the Rockies Medical Center in Salida, and Gunnison Valley Health of Gunnison. Each scored best among critical access hospitals on the iVantage Health Analytics’ Hospital Strength Index™. The 2013 Top 100 CAH announcement is the second release of this important designation.

The Hospital Strength Index is first-ever comprehensive rating of CAHs and the results recognize the Top 100 Critical Access Hospitals that provide a “safety-net “to communities across rural America – measuring them across 56 different performance metrics, including quality, outcomes, patient perspective, affordability and efficiency. More information can be found at www.iVantageHealth.com.

“Rural hospitals play a critical role in providing needed care to communities across America, yet the challenges are completely different while being as complex as urban hospitals. The need for enhanced performance and a framework for success are equally important as hospitals prepare for the impact of health reform,” said John Morrow, EVP of iVantage Health Analytics.