A new pilot program could bring a steady stream of generic drugs to some small hospitals in the Mountain West. Dozens of independent, rural hospitals in Montana, Nevada and Wyoming are eligible.
The Helmsley Charitable Trust is funding the program through Civica Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Civica, a nonprofit generic drug company. Hospitals that opt in will have access to a consistent supply of drugs at wholesale prices, without having to buy in bulk like larger hospitals.
Walter Panzirer, a trustee at the Helmsley Charitable Trust, said small hospitals currently face big price swings and drug shortages in everything from sterile water to morphine. This can be bad for patients, who may have to have surgeries rescheduled or cancelled, and it can hurt hospitals’ bottom line.
“So if they're losing money, there's a huge probability that these hospitals could close,” Panzirer said. “And this is one area of making them more sustainable.”
According to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), 146 rural hospitals closed or stopped providing inpatient services nationwide between 2005 and 2023. That’s in part because of the hospitals’ “smaller size, lower occupancy rates, and greater vulnerability to economic fluctuations than urban hospitals,” says the USDA.
The goal of the new collaboration is to eliminate at least one financial barrier for rural providers.
“This is allowing smaller, independent hospitals to remain smaller, independent, but to have the big purchasing power of the larger systems,” Panzirer said.
The pilot is starting in nine states. In the Mountain West, Montana has 54 hospitals that are eligible, followed by 23 in Wyoming and 14 in Nevada. The goal is to expand nationwide after running the pilot project for three years. Interested hospitals can reach out to Civica now to opt into the program.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Boise State Public Radio, Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Northern Colorado, KANW in New Mexico, Colorado Public Radio and KJZZ in Arizona as well as NPR, with support from affiliate newsrooms across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Eric and Wendy Schmidt.
