BOULDER CITY (KTNV) — Some needing medical assistance in Boulder City will need to start looking elsewhere for care as the hospital prepares to transition to a new designation as a Rural Emergency Hospital.
The hospital says the reclassification ultimately came down to three main factors: low patient volumes, reimbursement gaps and financial instability.
Dozens of positions are set to be eliminated in the next 60 days, and in just a couple of months, the hospital will also be eliminating some services that have been available for years.
WATCH | Anyssa Bohanan spoke to two people who have lived in Boulder City for decades and said this change is raising concerns:
"Most of the time you ended up going to a different hospital anyway, they took care of it," said Boulder City resident Anne Wallgren.
"But starting there was important," added her husband, Howard Wallgren.
"I love Boulder City, and I don't want our people there to not get the care that they might need," Anne said.
Right now, Boulder City Hospital is designated as a Critical Active Hospital, offering full inpatient and outpatient services, as well as 24/7 emergency services.
CEO Thomas Maher says the hospital is the only one in Nevada that's not part of a corporation. With the signing of the Big, Beautiful Bill in 2025, reimbursement to Boulder Hospital will be cut by 50% starting in 2027.
That, Maher says, forced them to look at the hospital's long-term viability, which led to the decision to transition to the new designation.
"Being a rural hospital, we're kind of living on very, very thin margins," Maher said. "Among other things, we started looking at what do we do to ensure the long-term viability of essential services for this community. And we researched, and this provider type, called Rural Emergency Hospital, we're the first ones in Nevada to exercise this option for us."
You can watch the full interview with him here:
So what does this mean for Boulder City residents?
Starting May 1, under the new designation, here's what will stay the same:
- 24/7 Emergency services
- Outpatient services
- Labs
- Radiology
- Pharmacy
- Discharge planning
- Telehealth
And the biggest changes we'll see will be to acute in-patient services:
- Effective May 1, 2026
- Acute in-patient services
- Med Surg and Trauma Resuscitation Unit
- Geriatric Psychiatry
- Patients who require overnight admission or more than 24 hours of stay will be transferred to area hospitals
The change is still subject to review and approval by the Nevada Provision of Public and Behavioral Health.
Members of the public can share their thoughts on the matter by sending written comments to the following:
Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health
Health Care Quality & Compliance
4150 Technology Way, Suite 300
Carson City, NV 89706
Phone (775) 684-5822
Email: dpbh@health.nv.gov
Written comments must be received no later than March 27, 2026.
