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Glenn Medical Center History
Glenn Medical Center was constructed in 1949 and since that time has
served the medical needs of Glenn County and surrounding area
residents. The Medical Center is the only acute care hospital in
Glenn County and also provides much needed care for travelers on
Interstate 5, and visitors to our local and thriving racetrack.
The hospital was operated by Glenn County for many years but in 1995
a decision was made by the Glenn County Board of Supervisors to
extend an operating lease of the hospital to Enloe Medical Center in
Chico, California. Enloe Medical Center assumed control of the
operations of Glenn Medical Center in 1995 and continued this
service through June 30, 2006.
During Enloe's tenure as lessee, Glenn Medical Center like many
other small rural acute care hospitals faced severe pressure to keep
their facility open. Federal and state reimbursement programs were
paying less and less of the amounts needed to even maintain a
break-even position. Glenn Medical Center and other small hospitals
found themselves having to rely on donations, grants and a somewhat
small base of private insurance patients.
In the late 1990's and early 2000's a new program was
approved by the Federal Government titled "Critical Access
Hospital" (CAH). Small, rural facilities operating less than
a certain number of inpatient beds and who were at least 35
miles away from another acute care hospital could apply for
this special CAH designation. The advantage to becoming a
CAH was improved reimbursement by the Federal Government for
Medicare patients and improved reimbursement from the State
of California for Medi-Cal inpatients (not
outpatients or emergency services).
In fact, this CAH designation resulted in Glenn Medical
Center and other qualifying hospitals to be paid at their
actual costs for services rendered to Medicare patients and Medi-Cal inpatients.
While this new program certainly resulted in saving many rural
communities from losing their acute hospital, facilities still
needed to encourage utilization from insurance companies, continue
to seek out grants, conduct fundraisers and most importantly contain
hospital costs without interruption of services or lessening of
quality standards.
In 2006, after three years of negotiation and discussion,
the Glenn County Board of Supervisors with Enloe Medical Center in agreement,
assigned the operating lease to Glenn Medical Center, Inc. d/b/a,
Glenn Medical Center, a 501c(3) not for profit corporation. GMC,
Inc. took over the operating lease on July 1, 2006 and continues to
operate the Medical Center today. Glenn County owns the land and
buildings which are leased to GMC, Inc.
Since the lease transfer in July 2006, Glenn Medical Center
has achieved a small but positive excess of revenue over
expenses for each ensuing fiscal year. Adding new
physicians, new services, new technology, and recruiting the
best employees brought this result. The Medical Center
still, however, faces many challenges including an aging
physical plant, continued pressure from payers to reduce
reimbursements, and an economy that is struggling both
nationally and on the state level.
Going forward the Board of the Medical Center, Administration, the
Medical Staff and Employees are working diligently in hopes that a
new replacement hospital might become a reality in the near future.
All of us associated with the hospital believe that a new facility
will strengthen our ability to provide even more services, improve
patient convenience, and favorably impact the financial climate for
Glenn County.
Glenn Medical Center appreciates the support of Glenn County and
surrounding area residents and encourages everyone to continue this
support to ensure that there is always an acute care hospital in
Glenn County offering 24-hours, 7-days a week emergency services with
an optimum number of medical providers. For more information on how
you can help Glenn Medical Center and the future of healthcare in
Glenn County we invite you to call us 530-934-1881.
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