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The Value of the 340B Program Case Study

Who is Grand Junction
Community Hospital?

Community Hospital is an independent, nonprofit acute care hospital that’s been operating in Grand Junction, Colo., since 1946. Offering full outpatient, inpatient and emergency services to the Western Slope region of Colorado and parts of eastern Utah, Community Hospital serves a diverse rural community, resulting in approximately 12,500 patient days, 65,000 primary care visits, 22,000 emergency room visits, and 15,000 urgent care visits annually.

Community Hospital prides itself on delivering personalized care to patients with specialties ranging from cardiology, oncology and rheumatology to labor and delivery, endocrinology and infectious disease. Community Hospital tailors the services it offers to the health care needs of the community — and many of those services are supported by savings afforded to the hospital by its participation in the 340B Drug Pricing Program. Importantly, 340B enables Community Hospital to keep care local and ensure that patients do not have to travel far distances to get the care they need.

Who Does Community Hospital Serve?

Community Hospital is centrally located between Albuquerque, N.M., Denver and Salt Lake City, allowing those who live in the rural and mountainous communities in between these metropolitan areas to access care much closer to home. Though the hospital serves an expansive population, it sits within Mesa County, Colo., an area , with an aging population and many households and families facing economic instability and housing insecurity,

“We would not be here without 340B. 340B is so critical to our organization, the care we deliver, and the service lines that are so important to our patients.”

Chris Thomas
President and CEO of Community Hospital

according to Mesa County Public Health’s 2024-2026 Community Health Needs Assessment. In fact,  Mesa County residents struggle to access health care, making Community Hospital’s mission all the more important.

Of the patients Community Hospital treats, roughly 55% are covered by Medicare and 18% are covered by Medicaid, programs that often have reimbursement rates below the actual cost of care. Only 22% of the hospital’s patients are covered by commercial insurance, with the remaining being self-pay or uncompensated care.

Because of these unique circumstances, Community Hospital’s participation in the 340B program has proved to be a lifeline for the community.

What 340B Means for Community Hospital and its Patients

Community Hospital has depended on savings from the 340B program to further improve community access to care and enhance patient experience. Without 340B savings, Community Hospital would have to significantly cut back on certain services and community programs.

Maternal Care — Savings from the 340B program are used to support labor and delivery services at Community Health, a service line that is otherwise too expensive and unprofitable for the hospital to provide. Considering 55% of mothers and babies delivered at the hospital are covered by Medicaid, the 340B program is especially vital to providing financial and staffing support for this department.

Though birth rates in Mesa County have decreased over 30% since 2016, Community Hospital has seen a 25% increase in births, delivering a in 2024, because of the services and programs it offers to new mothers and families. Specifically, the 340B program has allowed Community Hospital to support a “Be4Baby” program, which ensures mothers have access to prenatal care, regardless of their ability to pay. This critical support has led to tremendous improvements in health outcomes for moms and babies.

Oncology — The savings afforded by the 340B program help Community Hospital provide high-quality radiation and medical oncology services that are not readily available elsewhere in the community. Community Hospital’s new James Pulsipher Regional Cancer Center, opened in 2024, means individuals can receive patient- centered cancer care locally on the Western Slope without having to travel hundreds of miles to the next hospital with these services. Community Hospital also provides genetic counseling, rehabilitation, nutrition, survivorship care and integrative wellness therapies such as acupuncture, Restorative Movement, and a Healing Haven that provides wigs, blankets, port pillows and head coverings at no cost to patients. These services focus on treating the whole patient and not just the disease.

Community Hospital is also proud to have 22 oncology clinical trials supported by 340B savings, allowing patients to receive innovative treatments for some of the rarest and most complex cancers.

Workforce — Community Hospital is proud to maintain a low staff-to-patient ratio, averaging 2 nurses to 1 patient in the ICU and 4 to 1 in the medical-surgical unit. This enables better patient care and experience. Considering workforce shortages facing the broader hospital field, the 340B program has allowed Community Hospital to invest in workforce recruitment and retention efforts, helping improve patient health outcomes and reduce provider burnout. The hospital also invested in its workforce by opening a 106-spot on-site daycare. Half of the spots are used by Community Hospital employees and family, which is critical given that Mesa County is a major childcare desert.

340B Hospitals Need Support

The 340B Drug Pricing Program has been a critical resource for hospitals across the country to maintain, improve and expand patient access to affordable care for over 30 years, all without using taxpayer dollars. Despite the program’s demonstrated success, drug companies have repeatedly tried to cut the program and impose new restrictions that will harm our patients.

Though the benefit of the 340B program is different for every eligible hospital, the result is the same: patients and communities receive the care they need when they need it. The federal government must reject the efforts by drug companies to dismantle the 340B program and continue to support the program and ensure that patients can maintain access to high- quality, affordable care.