Reply #16: here's how they are getting health care costs "under control"

[UpInArms]

http://www.news12.com/WC/topstories/article?id=103371

(03/17/04) VALHALLA - Nearly two-dozen nurses are expected to lose their jobs at a Valhalla hospital next month.

The nurses will be let go as the leaders of the Westchester Medical Center attempt to balance their budget. The layoffs are part of a plan to save the facility more than $20 million.

...just a bit more...

here are some of their troubles:

http://www.thejournalnews.com/newsroom/021304/a0113westmed.html

The medical center was a county hospital until 1997, when county and state legislators and hospital officials succeeded in spinning off the facility as a quasi-independent public agency run by the Westchester Health Care Corp. The county guarantees the hospital's debt, making taxpayers responsible if the hospital defaults on that debt.

The medical center treats uninsured patients as part of its mission as a public hospital.

According to the consultant's report obtained by The Journal News, the medical center lost about $80 million last year and could lose $50 million this year. The report, from the Illinois- based Casas, Benjamin & White, says the hospital will likely run out of cash to meet daily operating expenses by March. It will need between $124 million and $184 million in "added liquidity" next year if it has any hope of turning itself around, the report said.