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Rural Health Investment, Local Training Are Priorities for South Jersey: State Sen Vincent Polistina
Some hospitals in New Jersey may be eligible for part of the $50 billion CMS spending on rural health care, according to State Sen Vincent Polistina (R, New Jersey).
During an AtlantiCare visit with CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz, MD, MBA, State Sen Vincent Polistina (R, New Jersey) spoke to The American Journal of Managed Care® (AJMC®) about making sure New Jersey receives its fair share of the $50 billion Rural Transformation Program.
Polistina highlighted rural hospital eligibility and praised partnerships between AtlantiCare and Stockton University; he also mentioned plans for medical and nursing schools in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in partnership with Drexel University College of Medicine, to expand local health education.
“You're going to see a lot more being done from an educational standpoint so that we can educate people here, train people at AtlantiCare, and then hopefully have them stay here,” Polistina told AJMC.
This transcript has been lightly edited; captions were auto-generated.
Transcript
Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, CMS will spend $50 billion on rural health care across the US. What are you doing to ensure New Jersey health care facilities get a piece of this funding?
Well, we think they can. There are certainly some that qualify. We made a pitch to Dr Oz for all 50 to come here, so we'll see how that goes. But certainly there are some rural hospitals in New Jersey and some are going to qualify under that designation. We're going to make sure that all the systems know that and they're doing what is necessary to make sure they're accessing whatever money we can get.
Are there specific eligibility criteria put in place at the moment?
Based on the federal designation, there are criteria. He said in the next couple months—it was one of the topics we talked about—in the next couple months, they're going to come out with the exact regulations on how to apply, and then they're going to give the money away by the end of the year. We're expecting over the next couple months to get more detail on exactly what needs to be done and then by the end of the year, hopefully we’ll see some money coming into New Jersey.
How have updates to Stockton University’s facilities over time improved health care in Atlantic County, NJ?
It’s had an unbelievable impact. AtlantiCare and Stockton partnering with what they're doing with the educational community there is only going to improve too, because we're going to create a nursing school [and] a medical school. Stockton is already doing their social services [and] their social work. They already have a nursing program that is going to be relocated to Atlantic City, and you're going to see a lot more being done from an educational standpoint so that we can educate people here, train people at AtlantiCare, and then hopefully have them stay here.
