What is a Critical Access Hospital?
When a child takes a hard fall, a patient experiences chest pain, or someone needs immediate medical care, having a hospital nearby can make a tremendous difference.
Three Rivers Hospital is a Critical Access Hospital (CAH) — a special designation for small, rural hospitals that helps ensure rural communities have access to essential healthcare.
What Makes a Hospital a Critical Access Hospital?
Critical Access Hospitals are designed specifically to serve rural communities. To receive the designation, a hospital must meet federal requirements that include:
- Be located in a rural area and meet distance or other requirements related to nearby hospitals
- Maintain 24-hour emergency services
- Have no more than 25 acute care inpatient beds
- Maintain an average length of stay of 96 hours or less, with certain exceptions
These requirements reflect the role of a CAH: providing essential local healthcare while connecting patients with larger healthcare facilities when more specialized or intensive care is needed.
Why Does Having a Critical Access Hospital Matter?
For rural communities, having a hospital nearby is about more than convenience.
When an emergency happens, distance matters. A local Emergency Department means patients can receive care and be stabilized more quickly, which can result in better health outcomes.
Local healthcare also means local relationships. At a community hospital, patients can receive care from people who live and work in the same region. That connection helps create a more personal healthcare experience.
A local hospital also strengthens the community itself. Three Rivers Hospital provides jobs, purchases goods and services, supports local healthcare professionals, and participates in community health and wellness efforts. As a public, community-owned hospital, we are here to serve the people and communities that support us.
Three Rivers: Your Local Critical Access Hospital
Three Rivers Hospital has been part of this community since 1949. Today, we serve patients throughout Okanogan and north Douglas counties, including Brewster, Bridgeport, Mansfield, Pateros, Methow, Carlton, Twisp, Winthrop, Mazama, and surrounding communities.
As a Critical Access Hospital, our role is to provide essential healthcare to the communities we serve while connecting our patients with larger medical centers when they need a higher level of care.
From emergency services and primary care to testing, surgery, rehabilitation and specialty services, Three Rivers Hospital is here to help our rural communities stay healthy, supported and cared for.
What Services Does a Critical Access Hospital Provide?
Being a small hospital does not mean providing only one or two types of care. Critical Access Hospitals offer a range of services to meet the needs of their communities.
At Three Rivers Hospital, these include:
24-Hour Emergency Care
Our Emergency Department is available around the clock for injuries, illnesses and other medical emergencies. We are a Trauma Level IV facility. When a patient needs care beyond what we can provide locally, our team works to stabilize the patient and coordinate transfer to a larger medical center.
Primary and Specialty Care
Three Rivers Family Medicine provides primary care for patients of all ages, while our specialty services cover orthopedics, general surgery and wound care, gynecology, and behavioral health therapy.
Diagnostic Services
Our Radiology and Laboratory departments provide services including X-rays, CT, MRI, ultrasound, 3D mammography and laboratory testing.
Swing Bed and Rehabilitation Services
Our swing bed program provides transitional care for patients who no longer need acute hospital care but are not yet ready to return home. Depending on their needs, patients may receive skilled nursing care and rehabilitation, including physical and occupational therapy.
Preventive and Wellness Care
Healthcare is about more than treating illness. Routine checkups, screenings and other preventive services can help people stay healthy and identify potential health concerns earlier.
