Jan. 12, 2017
HARRISBURG – State Rep. Matt Baker (R-Tioga/Bradford/Potter), chairman of the House Health Committee and representative of a very rural region of the state, joined Gov. Tom Wolf and Health Secretary Karen Murphy in announcing the award of $25 million in federal money to improve rural health care in the Commonwealth.
“As someone who represents a rural area, I understand the many challenges our hospitals and health care workers face when trying to deliver the best possible health care,” said Baker. “Unlike more urban areas, we don’t have as large a pool of resources to pull from and are geographically encumbered when trying to work with various specialty services. This funding will help us put into action a new health model that will provide more financial stability for our hospitals and improve patient care.”
Earlier this year Pennsylvania submitted a plan to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation to implement a Rural Health Transformation Initiative. The federal government reviewed Pennsylvania’s proposal and today announced that it will give Pennsylvania a $25 million grant to put this model into place.
The goals of this new rural health model are to improve population health and quality of care that is delivered locally and to enable rural hospitals to move toward greater financial sustainability through an all-payer global budget model.
“Rural areas are also seeing an increase in patient load due to the influx of patients addicted to or overdosing on opioids and heroin. This is yet another stress on a health care system already struggling in many regards,” said Baker.
“This is obviously an issue I care deeply about and am pleased to learn that Pennsylvania has been approved for this funding. Rural and urban health care systems both have their challenges and need different approaches and considerations to make sure they perform at the top of their game,” said Baker. “This plan will make a huge difference to the people I represent and I look forward to seeing it put into action.”
Caption for consideration: State Rep. Matt Baker (R-Tioga/Bradford/Potter), chairman of the House Health Committee, joined (from left) Dr. Stephen Cha with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Department of Health Secretary Karen Murphy, and Gov. Tom Wolf in announcing the award of $25 million in federal money to improve rural health care in the Commonwealth.
Representative Matthew Baker
68th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Tricia Lehman
717.772.9840
tlehman@pahousegop.com
RepBaker.com