This bill establishes a framework for rural emergency hospitals in Kansas to transition a limited number of swing beds to skilled nursing facility beds. The Secretary for Aging and Disability Services is mandated to grant waivers to these hospitals, provided they meet specific criteria: they must be currently licensed as a rural emergency hospital, have been licensed as a hospital prior to this designation, and must have offered skilled nursing facility services or critical access hospital swing bed services for at least one year without any findings of immediate jeopardy.

The bill aims to enhance the capacity of rural emergency hospitals to provide necessary skilled nursing care, thereby improving healthcare access in rural areas. It clarifies definitions related to critical access hospitals and hospitals as per existing Kansas statutes, ensuring that the new provisions are consistent with current legal definitions. The act will take effect upon its publication in the statute book.