Schumer Reveals: Vital Nursing Ed Programs in Westchester Hospitals Under Siege by Feds

Press Release

SCHUMER REVEALS: VITAL NURSING ED PROGRAMS IN WESTCHESTER HOSPITALS UNDER SIEGE BY FEDS

NEW RULE WOULD CUT $2.8M, FORCE TEACHING PROGRAMS TO CLOSE, EXACERBATE NURSING SHORTAGE

CMS May Attempt to Pull Funding for Hospital-based Nursing Programs in Westchester County Without Notice; Has Already Started Severing Funds and Demanding Refunds from Programs across the Nation

As Much-Needed Funds Sit on the Chopping Block, Westchester County Faces 8.2% Nursing Shortage - Nearly 11.3% of Nurses in Region Will Retire in Next 4-5 Years

At St. John's Hospital in Yonkers, Schumer Announces Legislation Protecting Top-Notch Westchester Hospitals' Nursing Ed Programs That Stand to Lose Over $1M Each

As nursing shortages persist across Westchester County and the Hudson Valley, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer revealed today that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' are threatening to cut over $2.8 million in funding from several hospital-based nursing education programs across the region, which are an important part of a nursing education system. As the agency starts severing funds and demanding refunds from programs across the country, Senator Schumer today outlined how losing this funding would severely threaten the local programs and imperil efforts to reduce the nursing shortage.

In a major push to protect these much-needed federal dollars and combat the nursing shortage, Senator Schumer today announced his legislation to ensure that Medicare continues to fund St. John's Riverside and Mt. Vernon Hospitals' nursing education programs. The legislation would halt CMS' misguided, retroactive interpretation of a regulation governing nursing school reimbursement that threatens to take away over $1.2 million from each of the two Westchester hospital-based nursing programs.

"This cavalier, slash-and-burn attitude towards our nursing education programs is over the top and must be stopped. At a time when we face a severe shortage of nurses and nursing faculty, the feds want to cut millions of dollars from vital hospital-based teaching programs," Schumer said. "This pending rule change would devastate Westchester's hospital-based nursing teaching programs and exacerbate an already dire nursing shortage. I will fight to the end for my legislation to put an immediate halt to CMS' misguided actions."

"A well-trained nursing staff is directly related to the quality of care that patients receive in our region and around the country," said U.S. Congresswoman Nita Lowey. "CMS should support - not punish - institutions that use innovative partnerships to give nurses the tools they need to serve patients. I will work to ensure that health care facilities like St. John's Riverside and Mount Vernon do not lose their federal funding due to a misguided interpretation of federal rules."

St. John's Riverside and Mt. Vernon Hospitals operate nursing education programs that train hundreds of nurses each year in a hospital setting to earn an associate degree. The 19 hospital-based nursing programs across New York State produce 20 percent of all nursing graduates in the state and serve as a crucial component of the nursing education system. Hospital-operated schools of nursing have been the entry point for new nurses into the profession for more than a century.

According to the National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses, more than 40 percent of nurses now holding a masters or doctoral degree got their start in diploma or associate-degree nursing schools. Graduates of these programs comprise more than 40 percent of the nurses who will attain the educational preparation necessary to teach future generations. Preserving this important access point for nursing education ensures that hospitals and school-based clinics have adequate staff, and that this important gateway to higher education for thousands of nurses each year remains intact.

These hospitals receive Medicare reimbursement funds to support their vital nursing education programs. Medicare is the largest source of federal support for nursing education, serving as a critical lifeline to nursing schools. Provider-operated nursing schools have been educating nurses for decades, some for nearly 100 years, and together with nursing colleges and universities, are important components of the nursing education system.

Recently, however, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid has decided to re-interpret the regulations that govern hospital-based nursing school reimbursement, singling out programs that have been providing top-notch nursing education for years and cutting off their funding without notice. CMS arbitrarily decided that certain nursing programs are not "provider-operated" and therefore should not receive Medicare funding to educate nurses in hospitals. CMS is demanding money back from these programs from previous years and has already started pulling funding and requesting reimbursements from at least four hospital-based nursing programs throughout the country. It is unknown when they will try to implement these changes in New York State.

If implemented, Westchester County stands to lose nearly $2.8 million: St. John's Riverside Hospital would lose over $1.15 million, Mt. Vernon Hospital would lose over $1.6 million. These cuts would effectively bankrupt the programs, forcing them to close their nursing education programs and exacerbate a nursing shortage currently sweeping Westchester County and the Hudson Valley.

In Westchester, 8.2 percent of nursing positions remain vacant as hospitals and health facilities are unable to find enough nurses to meet the need. Additionally, 11.3 percent of nurses in the region are expected to retire in the next four to five years, exacerbating the shortage. Across the nation, the nursing shortage is expected to more than double to 17 percent by 2010. By 2020, it is predicted that there will be a deficit of over 1 million registered nurses nationwide. Additionally, as the population is aging and using our healthcare system more, nursing colleges and universities are struggling to expand enrollment to meet the rising demand.

In an effort to keep the critical federal funding off the chopping block and alleviate Westchester County's nursing shortage, Senator Schumer today announced his legislation, S. 3468, The Nursing and Allied Health Education Preservation Act of 2008, that would ensure Medicare continues to fund nursing education provided through hospitals by stopping CMS's misinterpretation and recoupment activities.

Specifically, the bill would expand the definition of "provider-operated nursing programs" to include programs that interact with other health care entities; provide examples of programs to which CMS cannot deny reimbursements; allow providers to adapt to ensure Medicare eligibility; and halt CMS action against hospitals and require the agency to pay back recouped monies; modify restrictive regulations directing provider operated programs to allow innovation in nurse education.

"This rule change is the last thing we need when we are facing a nursing shortage that will only grow larger as the baby boomer's generation ages. This legislation would protect these hospital-based nursing programs from these misguided reinterpretations that threaten their very existence and I will fight tirelessly to make sure this bill passes," Schumer said.

Source