Lorain/Elyria, OH
Charity care cutting into EMH income
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ELYRIA - EMH Regional Medical Center`s net operating income for 2008 was down more than $1 million from a year before, and more than $2.5 million from 2006.
Chief Operating Officer Jim Simone said a large portion of the decrease comes from unpaid hospital bills, or what EMH refers to as uncompensated care.
The hospital spent $28.2 million on uncompensated care in 2008, which is up from the 2004 figure of $14.5 million, although Simone said much of that money is used on providing care for charity.
He said that while the loss in net operating income, much of which is placed into reserves for the purchase of new equipment, is substantial, it`s on par with most hospitals.
“It`s absolutely par for the course,” he said. “We`re in pretty good shape.”
He said the hospital has decided to cut back this year by spending only $6 million instead of $8 million on new equipment to deal with the losses.
Simone`s discussion of the hospital system`s finances came during the 2009 EMH annual company meeting Wednesday afternoon. The meeting, held at the Gates Medical Office Building auditorium, was a kind of state-of-the-hospital discussion for 2008, which was EMH`s 100th anniversary.
Several accomplishments were noted, including the EMH Center for Health & Fitness in Avon being named West Shore magazine`s “Best of the West” for the second year in a row, EMH Regional Medical Center receiving its 11th designation as a 100 Top Hospital by Thomson Reuters - only two other health care organizations in the United States have matched the achievement - and the hospital system earning the distinction of being named a NorthCoast 99 Top Employer for the eighth consecutive year. No other health care organization has been named as many times to the NorthCoast list, which recognizes the top 99 employers in Northeast Ohio.
The meeting also took a somber turn as those in attendance honored former president and chief executive Kevin C. Martin, who died following a battle with cancer in February 2008.
Kevin Flanigan, chairman of the board of Comprehensive Healthcare of Ohio, the parent company of EMH, presented Martin`s wife and children with a plaque honoring Martin`s memory for them to display in their home and one to display prominently in the hospital. He said the hospital lost a great leader and the world lost a great man.
“We`ll miss him dearly,” he said.
Contact Adam Wright at 329-7129 or awright@chroniclet.com.
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As with the so-called right to an attorney, the alleged right to medical care is worthy of discussion and debate. It is true that everyone wants top-notch medical care, but is it a right? Should the government insure that everyone has access to the best treatments available, and if so, how will it be paid for? Will college students be willing to pay for and withstand the extensive education required to become doctors if the government will eventually control and limit their ability to make a good living? Can the nation afford to pay the bills? Can the so-called rich be taxed enough to cover every benefit to be afforded to every citizen and even illegal immigrant? I do not think the issue is as cut and dried as some would have us believe. It is nice to talk about fairness and equality and basic human “rights”, but as with many things, the devil is in the details.
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To all of your answers Thomas, yes.
America, alone among 1st world countries, does not have universal, guaranteed health care for all of it’s citizens. Are you saying that we can’t do what France, Britain, and Germany do? And do it better I might add.
The fact of the matter is, if you look at studies comparing health outcomes in America to other countries, America does not do so well. It’s not debatable whether we still have the best system on earth, we don’t.
I can give you a personal example of one of the reasons for that. I have excellent health care through COSE for which I pay over $12,000 a year out of my own pocket. I recently had a high blood sugar reading. My doctor, among other things, prescribed a visit to a dietitian
Now, in adult onset diabetes, diet is probably the most important contributing factor. For most people, and I’m hoping myself, a change in diet and weight loss is enough to reverse the disease completely. This is important as uncontrolled diabetes is a major contributing factor to heart disease, stroke, blindness, kidney disease, and other very serious and costly conditions.
So I make the appointment and get a call from the clinic, “Your insurance company doesn’t cover the dietitian do you want to pay yourself?”. I did but consider, if my doctor had prescribed medication costing $300 a month they would have covered 80%, if I had needed a heart or kidney transplant as a result of uncontrolled blood sugar it would have been paid minus $1250 dollars out of pocket for me, but PREVENTION forget it.
The whole system is skewed towards maximizing profit for it’s major players above anything else.
My question is can we afford not to institute major reform.
My question is, considering that government is the only entity we have that can look at the BIG picture, at the effect of a major social system on our society as a whole, can we afford not to have a government run health system.
Add on to the fact that the majority of bankruptcies are caused by medical bills, that 40 million people are uninsured, and who knows how many of us are under insured and just one serious illness or accident away from financial ruin and I think the answer is plain.
We can’t afford the system as it is today.
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