MO hospitals cut positions, new construction

Missouri hospitals have eliminated about 1,000 positions and put a hiring freeze on more than 2,100 vacant positions in the past six months, the state hospital association said Wednesday while pushing for an expansion of the state's Medicaid program. The Missouri Hospital Association said its members also have canceled or delayed more than $100 million of capital improvements, and some hospitals are now considering where to pare back services such as oncology or hospice care. The association said the cutbacks are in response to federal funding cuts, high costs of treating the uninsured and changing hospital utilization patterns by patients.