By Emily P. Walker, Washington Correspondent, MedPage Today
Published: November 07, 2008
WASHINGTON, Nov. 7 — Hospitals across the country have laid off more than 1,200 employees over the past month, contributing to the country’s highest unemployment rate since 1994.
U.S. unemployment figures hit 240,000 during October, a month that saw nearly daily reports of hospital layoffs, mostly among non-clinical employees.
Valley View Regional Hospital in Ada, Okla., cut 15% of its staff, 127 people in all.
Shasta Regional Medical Center in Redding, Calif., eliminated 150 staff positions, one-fifth of its total staff.
Newark Beth Israel Hospital in Newark, N.J., laid off 100 employees.
Most cited a poor economy and lagging reimbursement rates for the cuts.
…”it’s only going to accelerate,” said Nathan Kaufman, managing director of Kaufman Strategic Solutions, a hospital consulting firm.
Kaufman said the problems have been brewing for some time and will only get worse until Congress addresses inadequate Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement rates.
“Medicare hasn’t kept up with inflation for years, and Medicaid has never covered the costs of care,” said Kaufman. “The combination of those two things have always made hospitals struggle, but they could manage as long as patient volumes grew.”
But, by most accounts, patient volume is starting to lag, particularly for profitable procedures such as elective surgeries.
“We’re seeing people postpone their elective surgeries, so volume is down slightly,” Kaufman said.
He said co-payments on pricey procedures, such as knee or hip replacements, are simply out of reach for patients in this economy.
… Kaufman said no hospital jobs are safe.
“We’re predicting that if the government doesn’t address the funding issue, we could lose many hospitals,” he said.
