” And while total employment at hospitals grew somewhat in 2008, even as millions of jobs were lost in other industries, hospital employment grew by only 0.1 percent each in January and February and was flat in March. That’s according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
For the first quarter of this year, 43 percent of hospitals said they expected to lose money, up from 26 percent in the first three months of last year. About one in three hospitals saw a drop in the ratio of income to what they must pay creditors (because more patients are putting off tests and elective surgeries, such as knee replacements). Declines in such measures of financial health can lead creditors to demand immediate repayment of loans.
Meanwhile, many hospitals are seeing increased interest expenses, insurers taking longer to pay their bills, more difficulty or inability to borrow money and other problems. That’s led more than three-fourths of hospitals to delay, stop or scale back building projects or upgrades to medical or information technology.”
