Iowa agency to rewrite regs to allow hospital-based long term care units
The state of Iowa plans to rewrite rules that would allow hospitals to open units to offer specialized care for long-term patients.
The new wings technically would be separate hospitals and could attract millions of dollars in federal funding.
State regulators have said such arrangements would be illegal, but Steve Young, director of the Iowa Department of Inspection and Appeals, said his agency plans to rewrite rules that allow the special-care units.
The move comes after a different state agency rejected plans by out-of-state, for-profit companies, to build four-free standing, long-term care hospitals — two in Des Moines and two in the Iowa City area.
Critics said the plans were too costly.
Supporters say long-term-care hospitals can offer specialized care for patients who are too fragile to live in nursing homes but who don’t need to stay in costly intensive-care units.
With Young’s announcement last week, hospitals can consider adding the special units.