Page 4 - Healthcare News Jan/Feb 2023

Critical Condition
Hospitals Challenged by Rising Costs, Falling Revenues
BAy GEORGE O’BRIEN “There’s no way
n “inflection point.”
That’s what Dr. Robert Roose says hospitals have
reached when it comes to their bottom lines and the ongoing challenge of making ends meet at a time when revenues continue to fall and expenses
continue to rise.
Hospitals have perpetually struggled from a fiscal standpoint amid
continually rising prices, the need to constantly upgrade technology and innovate, and reimbursement rates from payers that have historically been below 80 cents on the dollar, Roose said. But trends and conditions that existed before the pandemic have only been exacerbated over the past three years, and now, hospitals are at a critical, and extremely chal- lenging, crossroads.
“There’s no way to sugarcoat it — hospitals and health systems across Massachusetts, and across the majority of the country, are finding them- selves struggling in many regards, and at an inflection point where there are going to need to be continued efforts to support hospitals, or there will continue to be systems and hospitals that remain in distress,” said Roose, chief administrative officer at Mercy Medical Center in Spring- field, part of Trinity Health Of New England.
He quantified the situation by noting that Mercy is on a path to lose roughly $25 million for the fiscal year that will end in June, about the same amount as last year.
to sugarcoat
it — hospitals
and health
systems across
Massachusetts,
and across the
majority of the country, are finding themselves struggling in many regards, and at an inflection point where there are going to need to be continued efforts to support hospitals, or there will continue
to be systems and hospitals that remain in distress.”
DR. ROBERT ROOSE
4 WWW.HEALTHCARENEWS.COM JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2023