A new chief executive officer (CEO) of Blue Ridge Medical Center has been announced along with plans of converting to a Critical Access Hospital (CAH).
Reopening October 1, changes “will be a 25-bed facility license back to inpatient beds,” new CEO Gary Poquette said.
CAH designation is given to eligible rural hospitals by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
Eligible hospitals must provide 24/7 emergency care services, have 25 or less acute care inpatient beds, be located over 35 miles from another hospital, and maintain an annual average length stay of 96 hours or less, among other requirements.
The goal of the CAH designation is to aid financially vulnerable hospitals while improving access to healthcare, according to the CMS website.
As for Poquette, he said he is coming in with 35 years in healthcare administration, and this will be his fifth time as a CEO.
He added that he sees “a lot of potential” and plans “to make this a very high-quality, very financially-viable hospital.”
Of Poquette, former CEO William “Ed” Henry said, “We have an opportunity, with Gary, to bring him on board with his expertise in Critical Access Hospitals.”
Adding to that, Java Health Chief Executive Officer Bappa Mukherji said, “He’s worked at five separate rural hospitals over the course of his career.
“We are very thankful for Ed for putting in his time here and helping us identify what needed to happen next, including working with Gary to make sure that Gary wanted to take the job.”
Mukherji continued by saying that Henry will now focus on advocating for rural hospitals around the country.