Medicaid News
Health care no longer immune from economy
2/4/2009
University Hospital came through a tough financial year about $8 million below what it wanted to earn, and tougher times are probably ahead, officials said. That includes battling a proposed 1.6 percent "fee" on hospital revenues proposed by Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue to help plug a hole in Medicaid funding and provide trauma system funding.
As it closed the books on last year during Thursday's monthly board meeting, University's income from operations was $12.8 million, well below the $20.4 million it had budgeted, for a return of 3.2 percent. But, considering the economy, other hospitals would be "jumping for joy" to have that kind of result, Chief Financial Officer Dave Belkoski said.
A return of "3.2 percent is still a strong indicator that we had a strong year overall," he said.
Combined with all of the services and community benefits provided last year, "it was a great year," said J. Larry Read, CEO of University Health Care System. The way forward is darker, however, they said.
"We're going to have a tougher time of it," Mr. Belkoski said.
Health care has "always been viewed as immune from the economy," Mr. Read said. "And that's not the case anymore."
Read this article by Tom Corwin from the Jan. 23, 2009 Augusta Chronicle.
