Hospital gets state grant

CALLICOON — Community General Hospital (CGH) was named among seven regional hospitals sharing in some $300,000 in state grant allotments. The allocation was announced on August 28.

All of the hospitals awarded grants had either been designated as Critical Access Hospitals (CAH’s), are seeking designation, or completing studies to determine if a conversion would be beneficial.

The Rural Hospital Flexibility Program provides financial incentives and regulatory flexibility to small rural hospitals, with no more than 25 beds. Their services are generally for patients who stay less than 96 hours in the hospital and seek longer inpatient care coordinated with larger institutions.

The grant will provide CGH with $50,000 for strengthening of hospital quality assurance programs and emergency medical services, or to establish affiliation agreements with other hospitals and conduct staff training. Grant funding may also be used to recruit health care workers or to conduct financial feasibility studies to assess the potential benefits from CAH conversion.