06/01/2009

Associated Press

A Franklin County hospital is too close to a neighbor to qualify for extra federal money. So Missouri lawmakers have tried to help by renaming a highway in another city.

Missouri Baptist Sullivan Hospital is seeking a federal designation that would boost its reimbursement rate and could bring it up to $3 million.

To qualify, a hospital cannot have another facility within 35 miles, or within 15 miles if there are only secondary roads. Missouri Baptist is too close to a hospital in Washington, Mo., to meet either requirement.

Lawmakers passed a bill to rename Missouri 47 as Franklin Street within Washington. Officials are hoping that the federal government will overlook the fact that Missouri Baptist would still be about a half-mile too close to the Washington hospital.