DELTA, Colo. (KJCT) – The state of Colorado has requested $57.9 million from public hospitals to be returned. $3.2 million of that is asked from Delta Health.
“It’d be devastating for hospitals like us to be able to have to fork up $3.2 million,” said Jonathan Cohee, President and CEO of Dealta Health.
This comes after a lawsuit between UCHealth and the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF). In 2024, UCHealth sued the department after two newly purchased hospitals were misclassified as ‘public’ hospitals. UCHealth is a private, non-profit health care system in Colorado.
The money in question comes from hospital provider fees, which each hospital pays for the care they provides. That money is matched by the federal government, and the hospitals are reimbursed for those fees. The state now asks for that money back, to redo the process and account for these new private hospitals.
According to Cohee, HCPF increased its administrative fees by over 250% over the last decade.
“HCPF and the chase fees have a lot of money in reserves to be able to absorb this miscalculation on their part. Rather than take that away from small rural hospitals,” he said.
Cohee said financial reserves for rural hospitals are already low, and taking more money could reduce critical healthcare services.
“Whether that’s OB, you know, delivering babies, whether that’s oncology infusion, PT, OT services, home health services, our primary care clinics, our specialty clinics, our pulmonary clinics, our urgent care, those are all the the service lines that that $3.2 million helps continue to operate,” said Cohee.
Delta Health is the second largest employer in Delta County. It’s also the closest healthcare provider for many rural Colorado communities. Cohee said they could be affected by this cut.
“Your zip code shouldn’t really determine your health and the level of service that you’re provided, said Cohee.
However, Delta Health is not at risk for closure.
“We’re not going to close. We’re not, and there are a lot of other things that you can do before you get to that point, but it would seriously hamstring a small hospital like ours,” said Cohee. “Every day in a rural hospital is a struggle, but we’re resilient.”
Montrose Regional Health was also notified by the state. They are asked to pay back $2.7 million.
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