Anderson: Story County Medical Center provides many vital health care services to all county residents

Thank you, Dr. Kitchell, for the opportunity to explain the operation of Story Medical Center and our clinics. Your letter of Sept. 14 mentioned much about our patient population, finances and tax support.

First, Story Medical is designated by the federal government as a Critical Access Hospital under a program established by Congress in 1997 to ensure continued access to emergency health care services at small, rural hospitals.

All CAHs, like Story Medical, provide inpatient care and other outpatient services. We are limited, however, to the number of inpatient beds and those have a shorter length of stay. We provide emergency and primary care, and if necessary, transfer patients to a higher level of care, as determined by the physician and patient preference.

The fact that we have the only helipad in Story County has allowed us to treat, quickly transfer and save the lives of many Story County residents. In many of today's traumatic health emergencies, minutes have made, and will make, the difference between life and death.

Story Medical has 17 inpatient beds, which can also be used as "swing" beds, allowing the level of care to swing from acute to skilled care. That class of care is less intense and less expensive. You are correct there are other facilities in Story County that offer "skilled" care beds, such as local nursing homes, but our skilled care can provide more intense care, including therapy.

We also operate several medical clinics, including one in Maxwell and Ames. Our patients, and taxpayers, say they appreciate the choice and convenience of care our clinics provide. Two of our employed physicians, Dr. Art Check and Dr. Timothy Leeds, were recognized this year in the Ames Tribune "Best of " as determined by public vote as Best Family Physician and Best Ob/Gyn, respectively.

Story Medical tax revenue helps to support other services. We have two EMT operated ambulances that alternate with those from Mary Greeley, on a 24/7/365 schedule. That allows coverage for all parts of Story County.

Many Story County residents, including those in Ames and their families, have used our Senior Care, and have expressed their appreciation and high regard for the excellent quality of care we provide.

Today, there are more private nursing homes, some of which say they offer Title XIX (Medicaid), but most of those have a limited number of beds. Story Medical's Senior Care accepts Medicaid patients on day one of admission, and our government reimbursement has remained at close to 50 percent for at least the last 25 years. Taxes help support our Senior Care.

Medicare reimbursement for CAHs such as Story Medical is 99 percent of Medicare allowable costs, rather than 101 percent due to congressional sequestration. That means Story Medical and other CAHs don't receive the full amount of the costs to provide care to Medicare patients.

In addition, Story Medical does not receive the full cost of care from Medicaid patients, and many commercial insurance companies are no longer paying the full cost of the care for their subscribers.

County tax revenues offset a portion of the losses associated with Medicare and Medicaid but the resulting impact is continued negative margins from operations.

We will never compete with Mary Greeley for acute care, but will provide many vital health care services to all residents of Story County. We will continue to refer patients to other providers in Story County, as well as Des Moines and other locations to ensure Story Medical patients continue to receive the best options for their health care.

As a public entity, all of the Story Medical board meetings and the record of our proceedings are, and always have been, open to the public. We welcome your questions and comments.

David Anderson is the board chair of Story County Medical Center

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