Grays Harbor Community Hospital is proposing to cap the number of inpatients it serves — meaning those who are admitted and typically stay overnight or longer — at 49, a move it says could increase revenue from Medicare and Medicaid by $2.5 million to $3 million per year.

The hospital says the increased revenue could help it recruit primary care doctors.

It isn’t likely to mean the hospital will treat any fewer patients. The hospital has, and will still have, 140 beds. The average number of inpatients per day for 2016 was 31, said hospital spokeswoman Nancee Long, well below the 49-patient lid. The hospital also treats patients who are in for day procedures or observation, but aren’t formally admitted. There is no limit on the number of those patients. Typically, Long said, people in the observation status range between about 40 and 60 per day.

In the event of a natural disaster or some sudden overwhelming emergency, the 49-bed limit wouldn’t stop the hospital from admitting patients, Long said. But if there wasn’t an emergency and the bed census was above 49, patients would be diverted to other institutions.

It won’t change the hospital’s status as a Sole Community Hospital, meaning it will offer all the services it currently offers, Long said.

The change goes into effect Oct. 1. The hospital needs federal approval for the change and it has to be in effect for three months before it can formally apply. That would be Jan. 1 and then it could take up to 18 months for approval.

The additional revenue will come from higher reimbursement rates on the services of primary care physicians who work for the hospital at one of the hospital-owned clinics around the area. Right now, the government pays the hospital based on a formula. Long said the change would mean the hospital would be paid based on its actual costs.

The cost-based reimbursement rates won’t apply to specialists or to services of physicians who don’t work for the hospital.

Long said that not only will the hospital be in a better financial position to hire additional primary care doctors, it will demonstrate financial stability for the institution that could help in recruiting.

The hospital also operates HarborCrest, a drug and alcohol treatment facility at its west campus near Sam Benn Park. It will continue to operate a detox facility, but may convert its inpatient program to a residency program, meaning fewer overnight stays, said a news release from the hospital.