Hospital Successful on Appeal

BOONE, Iowa---The Boone County Hospital offered skilled nursing care on the 3rd floor of the hospital, until the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services decided to shut the service down.  The matter was appealed and an Administrative Law Judge recently ruled in the hospital's favor, permitting the service to continue.  Hospital CEO Joe Smith told the Hospital Board recently that CMS still has more than a month to appeal the judges ruling.  In the mean time, Smith says rules and regulations have changed to work will begin to reopen the skilled care unit to meet the new standards.  The Hospital Board supported the skilled nursing beds because of improved patient services.