"Critical Access Hospital" designation created.
Date: 1997
In response to the rural hospital crisis, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services creates this designation for eligible rural hospitals. To be eligible, hospitals must have fewer than 25 acute care inpatient beds, be located more than 35 miles from another hospital, provide 24/7 emergency services, and have an average length of stay of 96 hours or less for patients. Critical Access Hospitals have access to increased funding and services.