Bill to Save Elgin Hospital Among 7 Late Additions to Special Session

(Photo by Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)

(North Dakota Monitor) – A proposal to save a community hospital is among seven bills North Dakota legislative leaders advanced  for consideration during a special session.

Although the session is focused on federal Rural Health Transformation Program money, legislative leaders discussed 19 additional bill drafts.

Legislative leaders rejected a majority of the proposals, but voted unanimously to advance a bill drafted in response to the financial woes of Jacobson Memorial Hospital, the critical access hospital in Elgin.

The facility, which serves surrounding southwest North Dakota communities, is in danger of closing its doors, said Sen. Donald Schaible, R-Mott, the primary bill sponsor.