Last week, U.S. Representative Mark Alford toured Fitzgibbon Hospital, meeting with hospital leadership and members of its Board of Trustees to discuss the mounting financial pressures threatening rural healthcare across Missouri, the nation, and specifically Fitzgibbon Hospital. He also toured the facility and engaged with front-line nurses and staff.
Hospital President and CEO Angy Littrell led the presentation to Alford and his staff, outlining the unique challenges facing the 60-bed independent hospital that serves as one of Saline County’s largest employers with more than 460 staff members.
“Rural hospitals like Fitzgibbon are facing a perfect storm of financial challenges,” Littrell explained during the visit. “We’re serving a vulnerable population with high poverty and chronic disease rates, while receiving no direct tax support, and dealing with reimbursement rates that don’t cover the cost of care. We are seeking the Congressman’s help in ensuring Fitzgibbon’s and other rural hospitals’ continued viability.”
During the visit, Alford toured key patient service areas including the Community Cancer Center, the lab, surgical suites and the Women’s Center to view labor and delivery rooms. Littrell made special note of the “maternal and fetal health care desert” that has emerged in northern Missouri, as hospitals there have closed obstetric units, causing long travel times for expectant mothers. The hospital’s struggles mirror those facing rural healthcare facilities nationwide. Nearly 70 percent of Fitzgibbon’s payer sources, including Medicare, Medicaid and uninsured patients, do not cover the actual costs of providing care.
Despite these challenges, Fitzgibbon still generates more than $40 million annually in payroll and benefits alone. The hospital also provided approximately $10 million in uncompensated healthcare services in the past year to patients who were either unable or unwilling to pay. The hospital also serves a seven county service area, seeing about 15,000 emergency room visits, 220,000 laboratory tests, and60,000 outpatient clinic encounters per year.
Alford’s visit comes as rural hospitals across the country continue to face closure, with more than 180 rural hospitals closing since 2005, according to the National Rural Health Association. Fitzgibbon Hospital has served the Marshall community and surrounding rural areas since 1923, providing 24-hour physician-staffed emergency services and specialized care sometimes unavailable in rural settings.
