Knoxville Hospital & Clinics CEO Kevin Kincaid has spent the past year working with state and national legislators to amend healthcare policy. As a result, he was recognized by the Iowa Hospital Association Political Action Committee with the 2020 IHA PAC Grassroots Award for his effective advocacy. He says that what will benefit hospitals financially may not always be in the best interests of the communities they serve, and that it’s a balancing act to ensure important legislation is passed.

“You can’t just come in with an idea and be pigheaded about it and want all or nothing. There’s a lot of things this legislative session that from a hospital perspective, we moved the ball on. We’re not there yet, but we moved the ball on it. But if we would’ve went in and said we wanted all or nothing, guess what you end up with. Nothing. Because you alienated both sides of the aisle.”

One of the key pieces of passed legislation Kincaid advocated for was a new designation for rural hospitals called Emergency Rural Hospitals. This allows those institutions to drop inpatient acute care while still being considered a hospital. These facilities would then partner with larger facilities to provide inpatient care, making it more financially viable.