RITZVILLE, Wash. — Hospital commissioners faced a packed room of concerned community members and staff at a town hall on Saturday, revealing the financial chaos threatening East Adams County Rural Healthcare Hospital’s future.
Previous Coverage – Ritzville hospital faces closure as financial crisis deepens
The hospital has a $13 million debt, largely accumulated over the last three years.
The board claims past hospital leadership failed to complete audits for 2022, 2023, and 2024, leaving the board unaware of the financial problems for some time.
“It’s very difficult to bring yourself to believe that professional people that you have been dealing with are doing things that appear to be seriously wrong,” said Eric Walker, Adams County Public Hospital District Commissioner.
The board claims deception and false numbers tied to the missing audits led to the debt. Chief Financial Officer Viola Babcock said the missing audits prevented oversight.
“There was no way for the board to know, the next level of check and balance would’ve happened had the audits happened,” Babcock said.
One community member asked, “I wanna know why did it take so long to find that out?”
The financial troubles threaten to shut down the facility and lay off over 100 workers. If the hospital shuts down, Ritzville and nearby residents face up to an hour’s drive to the nearest emergency room.
The board shared no concrete plan but said they are close to revealing a strategy. They refuse to consider closing and bankruptcy as options.
Commissioner John Kragt explores a new classification for the hospital.
“We’re looking at what’s called a rural emergency hospital. There are about 48 of them in the country. The government started these in 2022 because you had hundreds of rural hospitals closing across the country,” Kragt said.
This classification could secure Medicare funding for emergency services but would limit long-term care beds.
They considered a merger, but no institution is willing to partner due to financial instability.
“Everybody here, I don’t believe, can live or want to live without the clinic and the hospital,” said community member Patty Cannon.
The town hall meeting was emotional with tears, frustration and confusion.
Revealed today, the hospital’s monthly operational costs have reached a break-even point, but the debt remains a threat.
The board will present a comprehensive plan outlining its efforts to save the hospital to the community on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at Legion Hall in Ritzville.
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