Congressman Frank Lucas and U.S. Senators Jim Inhofe and James Lankford are working together to push legislation which would help prevent the Harmon Memorial Hospital in Hollis from closing. The have introduced the HARMON Oklahoma Act, which would allow the hospital to keep a certain designation so it can stay open until a new Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) program begins.
At issue, Harmon Memorial’s Critical Access Hospital (CAH) designation was revoked because of an administrative error. However, CMS two additional years to keep the designation. The hospital is trying to gain CMS’s new Rural Emergency Hospital (REH) designation once the program is initiated. However, time could run out on the two year CAH designation. If it does before Harmon receives the REH designation, it could lead to the rural southwest Oklahoma hospital to close.
“As more and more rural hospitals across the country close their doors, it’s important that we keep Oklahoma’s rural hospitals open and operational. As a critical access hospital, Harmon Memorial Hospital in Hollis, Oklahoma provides crucial care to its community and to the people who call southwest Oklahoma home,” said Lucas. “After years of back-and-forth communication with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), I was happy to hear that CMS has provided flexibility and extended the hospital’s designation as a critical access hospital. But to ensure these issues don’t arise again, Congress must pass the HARMON Oklahoma Act, ensuring Harmon Memorial Hospital can continue to provide local health care for our communities. I’m proud to join Senator Inhofe and Senator Lankford in introducing this important bill and look forward to making sure rural communities across southwest Oklahoma have access to the essential services Harmon Memorial provides.”
Inhofe and Lankford are managing the HARMON Oklahoma Act on the Senate side.
“While the extension secured in June due to the public health emergency will give the hospital some peace of mind, the HARMON Act will solidify the hospital’s future. This will ensure the essential workers that are serving the surrounding community can continue to do their work for years to come, benefitting all the folks in the area who rely on the hospital’s services,” said Inhofe.
“Harmon Hospital is essential to the Oklahomans they serve in Hollis, Harmon County, and the surrounding area. After years of countless phone calls and letters pushing the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to extend Harmon Hospital’s critical access status, we finally attained a temporary extension of their status earlier this year. Our bill holds the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to their word by ensuring Harmon Hospital can maintain its critical access designation to prevent bureaucrats in Washington, DC, from forcing them to close their doors and hurt our neighbors in southwest Oklahoma,” said Lankford.
Since 2005, nine hospitals have closed in Oklahoma.
