Stanislaus Surgical Hospital to suspend operations indefinitely. Here's why.
MODESTO – Stanislaus Surgical Hospital is suspending all operations indefinitely, impacting dozens of workers and hundreds of patients.
This comes after the federal agency Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) announced its termination of the Medicare provider agreement with the hospital.
Stanislaus Surgical Hospital's Medicare provider agreement will be terminated on Sept. 15.
Hospital staff have been seen packing up and taking off for what is their last known shift.
Stanislaus Surgical Hospital said a total of 160 employees are now out of a job.
This follows a legal notice from CMS, where the federal agency cited three different medicare conditions of participation the hospital did not comply with.
It stated that for patients admitted prior to Sept. 15, payment may be available for up to 30 calendar days after the effective date of termination.
But, this is not the first legal notice they received from CMS.
Back in April, Stanislaus Surgical Hospital received a similar notice when CMS cited nine different medicare conditions of participation that the hospital violated.
"It is extremely unfortunate the hospital is losing its medicare certification despite months of concerted efforts to work with the federal government. Hospital leadership disagrees with the action," the hospital said in a statement.
One community member said he is feeling the loss.
"They shouldn't close something like that down. They shouldn't do it because people do need their jobs. It's like say I lose a finger or something and there's no emergency room right there, with no appointment necessary like that sign says? There's a lot people that need their job," Rick Sloan said.
In that statement from the hospital, they say they are suspending operations indefinitely but will weigh options for long-term direction.