Wyden Presses Federal Regulators to Fix Mistake Costing St. Charles Health System $6 Million

Wyden Presses Federal Regulators to Fix Mistake Costing St. Charles Health System $6 Million

Senator says "bureaucratic red tape" has placed Central Oregon healthcare provider in "administrative limbo."

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden today urged federal health regulators to fix their mistake that's unfairly cost St. Charles Health System $6 million over a nearly three-year period.

In his letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Wyden noted the agency's error dates back to 2022 when St. Charles Health System (SCHS) responded to financial stresses from the COVID-19 pandemic by merging its Medicare-certified hospitals in Bend and Redmond. The merged hospital sought status as a sole community hospital, which provides higher Medicare reimbursement to support hospitals that are the only short-term acute care hospital serving a community.

Yet when St. Charles' application for that updated status with the higher Medicare reimbursements was ultimately approved, it did not go back far enough to the correct date, Wyden wrote CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure.

"Taken together, I believe a merely technical matter tied up in bureaucratic red tape has placed SCHS in administrative limbo for nearly three years and has cost them $6 million," Wyden wrote. "My ultimate priority is making sure SCHS receives the money it needs to serve Oregonians living in rural communities."

The entire letter is here.

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