NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The new CEO of Hutchinson Regional Healthcare System, Benjamin Anderson, is coming from a job in Colorado and having seen a state where Medicaid has expanded, in returning to his wife's home state of Kansas, he sees how vital it is that it happens here.
"My role in Colorado with the Hospital Association was to provide support, back up, help build the capacities of the 45 hospitals outside the Front Range," Anderson said. "We saw the direct impact of Medicaid Expansion on those hospitals, the health of those hospitals. Colorado has not lost a rural hospital."
It's not that there aren't financial struggles in rural healthcare generally, but expanding Medicaid can help keep those hospitals viable and available.
"Colorado has a pretty strong track record around keeping rural hospitals strong," Anderson said. "I think a key part of that was that every person in a community was able to access the health care that they needed at the appropriate time and place. If we don't have coverage for everyone in a population, what happens is we access it the most expensive ways, which is through the emergency room."
This is going to be an emphasis for Anderson, until the policy changes.
"I intend to be a very public supporter of Medicaid Expansion," Anderson said. "Because, I believe, it's in the best interests of the community."
Anderson starts full time in Hutchinson in early January.
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