Washington County Hospital and Clinics CEO Todd Patterson participated in a hospital round table hosted by U.S. Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks this week in Davenport.  

Miller-Meeks, with Iowa HHS Director Kelly Garcia and leaders from seven hospitals across Southeast Iowa met to talk about the $50 billion Rural Hospital Transformation Fund. 

The program would use $25 billion to provide equal shares to states that apply. The other $25 billion will be distributed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The program accounts for roughly one-third of the overall cuts to rural Medicaid payments. And unlike the Medicaid cuts, the $50 billion pot is a temporary program providing dollars for the next five years, through 2030, nearly two-thirds of the Medicaid cuts won’t happen until after 2030. 

Hospitals represented included Washington County Hospital and Clinics, Jackson County Regional Health Center, UnityPoint Health Jones Regional Medical Center, MercyOne Genesis (Davenport), UnityPoint Health–Trinity Muscatine Hospital, MercyOne Clinton Medical Center, and Great River Health (Burlington).

This was Miller-Meeks’ second hospital roundtable in recent weeks.