Garden County Health Services converting to Rural Emergency Hospital

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (KNOP) - Garden County Health Services in Oshkosh will convert to a Rural Emergency Hospital (REH), hospital and rural health officials said.

Warren Memorial Hospital in Friend converted to a Rural Emergency Hospital in early 2024, becoming Nebraska’s first to do so to secure critical federal funding.

Jed Hansen, executive director of the Nebraska Rural Health Association, said the conversion means the Oshkosh facility will no longer offer direct in-patient care — that is, stays longer than 48 hours.

“By converting to a Rural Emergency Hospital, the hospital in Oshkosh will be eligible for an annual payment that the federal government will provide in 12 monthly payments, so they will have a fairly consistent payment,” Hansen said. “With that, they retain all of their emergency services, observational services, clinic services and things like labs and imaging.”

Hansen emphasized that jobs and insurance coverage will not change as a result of the conversion.

For most people who use the hospital, the change is not expected to have a significant impact on services or access to care, officials said.

Hospital leaders are anticipating a conversion timeline of approximately 60 to 90 days.

The REH designation is intended to help rural hospitals obtain more stable federal funding while preserving key emergency and outpatient services for their communities.