Four more rural Arkansas hospitals set to receive federal pandemic relief

More than $16 million in federal aid will go to four rural Arkansas hospitals that received preliminary approval for the funds Tuesday from state lawmakers. The full ArkansasLegislative Council today will vote on whether to disburse the funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021, aimed at covering costs incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. Arkansas received an initial pot of more than $1.5 billion for lawmakers to distribute, and legislators set aside $60 million in August 2022 as emergency relief for struggling hospitals.

By: Tess Vrbin
Arkansas Advocate

More than $16 million in federal aid will go to four rural Arkansas hospitals that received preliminary approval for the funds Tuesday from state lawmakers.

The full Arkansas Legislative Council on Friday will vote on whether to disburse the funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021, aimed at covering costs incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. Arkansas received an initial pot of more than $1.5 billion for lawmakers to distribute, and legislators set aside $60 million in August 2022 as emergency relief for struggling hospitals.

The Legislative Council’s Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review subcommittee approved the following awards with no dissent:

• $4,589,119 to Baxter Health in Mountain Home
• $5,000,000 to Fulton County Hospital in Salem
• $3,301,356 to Arkansas Methodist Medical Center in Paragould
• $3,441,839 to Howard Memorial Hospital in Nashville

The four hospitals are among 18 that the consulting firm Alvarez and Marsal evaluated to determine whether they are eligible for ARPA funds. The state hired the firm to help legislators decide how to prioritize hospitals’ requests for the dwindling supply of federal pandemic relief funds.

Baxter Health has 40 locations throughout 11 counties in North Central Arkansas and is currently in the process of acquiring Fulton County Hospital, Baxter Health president and CEO Ron Peterson told lawmakers.

Rep. Aaron Pilkington, R-Knoxville, asked Peterson and Baxter Health chief financial officer Debbie Henry why the hospital system requested more than $4.5 million in aid when it has $6 million in cash on hand and $58.3 million in restricted funds.

Henry said the restricted funds are for equipment and building repairs and cannot be used for payroll or operating expenses. She added that the hospital has about 85 days’ worth of cash on hand, which is “one of our weakest areas financially.”

“It does look like a lot of cash on hand, but in reality, for the size of our hospital, it’s not much,” Henry said.

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