Survey: Ohio hospitals planning job cuts - Dayton Business Journal:

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The association is reporting around 35 percentg of hospitals surveyed in the state say they are planningv to make additional layoffs in the nextsix months; 41 percenf of the layoffs will take place at hospitals in ruralk areas, according to the survey, which include d 110 of the associations 174 short-term, acute care membet hospitals. The association also founc that of Ohio 42 percent already have enacted some form ofhiring and/or salargy freeze.
In Dayton, has announced 55 mostlyt non-patient care positions have been cut fromits staff, and hospitals includinbg Children’s Medical Center and those in Premier Health have looked at reducing the numbed of position being hired for and freezingf others. “The number one missioj of our hospitals is to care forpeoplew — regardless of their ability to said Michael Stephens, president of Kettering Health Network’es Sycamore Medical Center and chair of the OHA Boar d of Trustees, in a news release. “Thag mission is in jeopardy.
” Beyond workforce 29 percent of Ohio hospitals have cancelled or delayedbuildin projects, including plans to make capitakl improvements, including emergency department modernizations, operating room expansions and cardiac care While nearly $250 million in cardiac care projects are ongoinh in the Dayton area, some hospital are halting other projects. Children’s Medical Center is delaying its plan to buile a new emergency center until fundingis secured, and Ketteringy Health Network has said projects beyond its Schusterf Heart Tower and the Grandview Medical Center west wing projec are delayed.
As hospitals struggle to remaimnfinancially stable, the Ohio Hospitapl Association also is reporting a decision at the statehousd could worsen the climate for hospitals. The Ohio General Assembly is debatinha two-year spending plan that would rais hospital costs and lead to more service cuts and construction Ohio hospitals would be assessed $598 million over the biennium, but they would only receive $187 million back at a $411 million according to the association. The which would cost Dayton hospitals millions of comes at a time when hospitals are wrestlintg with a 41 percent increase in charituy care and a 50 percent increase in bad debt duringy the last eight monthsof 2008.
Since total uncompensated care losses have increasedfrom $700 million to $1.3 billion. Children’s Medical Center has been hit especiallu hard. “As a result of plant closings and job losses inour region, has experienced a 7 perceny decline in commercially insured patients, with a correspondintg increase in the number of Medicaix patients, where reimbursement does not covef the full cost of care,” said David chief financial officer. “As a result of this shift, Daytonb Children’s is working to fill an $8 million to $10 milliob budget shortfall even though our patient volumes arestilll high.
” Miller said the shortfall, compoundef by the proposed additional assessmenf at the state level, woule mean delaying projects or cutting much-needed servicew for hospitals, including Children’s. The increasee financial burden and resulting decisions could lead to a numbetr of addition problemsfor Ohio’s hospitals and An increased number of emergency department patients, couplexd with financial roadblocks to vital emergency departmentr expansions and modernizations, means longee waits and higher coste for all patients, said James Castle, president and CEO of the Ohio Hospita l Association, in the news release.
Although hospitals’ primary mission is deliverinvhealth care, they also strive to maximize accesas to services, make health care affordablde and provide good-paying jobs in all regions of the he said. “An Ohio that fails to providew accessible, affordable, high-quality health care is an Ohio that cannotcompetes economically,” Castle said.