· Pradeep Pandey · Glossary
What Is a Critical Access Hospital? A Complete Guide
A critical access hospital is a federally designated rural hospital, capped at 25 beds, that earns cost-based Medicare reimbursement in exchange for meeting strict distance and emergency-care rules. This guide breaks down how a hospital qualifies, how its payment model differs from a standard hospital, and what the designation means day to day for the nurse managers who staff one of the roughly 91 critical access hospitals in Texas.