As they walked the picket line last week, outraged union nurses were quick to point out that hospital groups that operate in the Minneapolis-St. Paul turned a profit of $750 million last year. But behind the hospitals' apparent fortune, economic clouds lurk that have forced them to keep a sharp eye on the bottom line, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. The hospitals continue to grapple with rising unpaid patient bills and cuts in public programs, problems that are unlikely to ease until federal health reform fully kicks in during 2014 with expanded coverage for millions.
