Soon, I will introduce legislation providing for alternative resolution of disputed inspection findings of hospitals and healthcare facilities by the Department of Health.
 
While the Department plays an important role in enforcing Pennsylvania’s health and safety standards, disputes often arise over the scope and validity of cited deficiencies. Healthcare facilities are often forced to comply with findings they believe are unnecessary or inaccurate, leading to unnecessary costs, delays, or closures.
 
Hospital closures have become a statewide problem, and in some cases, noncritical survey findings have become the deciding factor in whether a facility can reopen—even when similar deficiencies are routinely allowed to be corrected while a facility remains open. This needlessly denies entire communities the critical care services they urgently need. If a hospital can address these issues while serving patients, then it should not be held to a different standard simply because its doors are temporarily closed. We should be finding pathways to reopen facilities, not creating new barriers.
 
This is especially concerning in underserved areas where healthcare access is already limited, and hospitals are struggling to stay open. Where opportunities exist to reopen or sustain facilities, artificial barriers should not stand in the way.
 
This bill builds on dispute resolution processes already in place for long-term care facilities in Pennsylvania, and would give healthcare facilities the right to appeal contested findings to independent factfinders who can issue fair, timely, and binding resolutions.
 
By offering an alternative route for dispute resolution, this legislation will strike a balance between enforcing safe operating standards, and preventing unnecessary barriers to healthcare access.
 
Please join me in supporting this legislation.