Critical access hospitals: hubs for rural health care.

A 1997 federal law created a new type of rural hospital called the Critical Access Hospital (CAH). Having CAH designation allows a facility to receive cost-based reimbursement from Medicare in exchange for providing services such as emergency care and limiting the number of beds and the average length of stay. Minnesota has 79 CAHs. This article describes how having the designation has allowed these facilities to better meet the needs of the populations they serve. It also describes the challenges all CAHs face in light of federal budget constraints and health care reform.