Until Peter Betts came to Barnert Hospital in Paterson, NJ, in July 2007, he did not realize just how dire the financial straits were at his hospital, one of the two main medical centers in this struggling city. On the same day, the Bayonne Medical Center completed an agreement for its sale to a limited liability corporation that would assume the bulk of its debt. What has happened in Paterson and Bayonne paints a vivid picture of the distressed situation of New Jersey's hospital industry.
Maryland is considering legislation that would require families to report proof of health insurance coverage for their children on their tax filings, and beginning in three years families with uninsured children would no longer qualify for the state's child tax exemptions. The "Support the Kids First Act" is designed to help the state identify which children are uninsured.
A former retail building in Whitefish Bay's business district would be converted into a medical clinic under a new proposal by Aurora Health Care. Aurora wants to renovate the building to house a clinic clinic, with five to six doctors that would mainly serve patients who live in Whitefish Bay. Aurora Advanced Health Care has a larger facility about 4 miles away from the clinic's proposed site.
The Detroit Medical Center plans to reduce payments to the Wayne State University School of Medicine by $12 million a year in a dispute over whether the medical center pays doctors too much to treat poor patients. Under a contract, DMC agreed to give WSU $19,167,435 a year for 3 1/2 years for care of indigent patients. The money is primarily used to help pay salaries of WSU doctors who treat indigent DMC patients.
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom said the city will make more than $18 million in midyear cuts as it faces a $233 million budget deficit for the fiscal year starting July 1. As a result of the cutbacks, some surgeries at San Francisco General Hospital could be delayed.
Nashville-based hospital chain HCA Inc. has reported a nearly 128 percent increase in its fourth-quarter net income as gains from sales of facilities and on investments helped to offset higher interest costs. HCA representatives said the chain gained $139 million from sales of facilities and $2 million on investments. The company also got 6.6 percent more in revenue per patient, although admissions at hospitals opened at least a year fell by a percent.