Healthcare 'storm' hits Mary Washington Healthcare

For years, the U.S. health care industry seemed recession-proof. But these days, hospital officials throughout the state are battening the hatches as they ride out what Katharine Webb, vice president of the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association, calls a "perfect storm" of payment cuts, policy changes, increasing debts and the rising cost of caring for the uninsured. "These are very turbulent times for Virginia hospitals," Webb said last week. That turbulence has hit Mary Washington Healthcare, forcing it to lay off 66 employees last week. The health care system operates two local hospitals and employs about 4,600 people. Officials cited Medicare cuts as a driving factor in the recent layoffs.