Hospitals' projected cuts worsen

As Gov. David A. Paterson's proposed 2010-11 executive budget is frequently changing, updated information from an Albany-based lobby group representing health care systems shows some area hospitals have it worse than originally thought.

According to a March 5 report from the nonprofit Healthcare Association of New York State, the latest amendment to the proposed executive budget includes an even greater state funding reduction for five hospitals in the north country.

Massena Memorial Hospital may take the biggest hit, going from the $66,000 loss the association reported Jan. 28 to the projected loss of $322,000 in the most recent report.

"Where it's all going to end, I'm not sure," hospital Chief Executive Officer Charles F. Fahd II said. "We can't continue to be cut financially and not expect that eventually it's going to impact patient care."

In the past year, Massena Memorial has seen profits dry up as costs climb, outpatient registrations dwindle and the number of unpaid medical bills written off at the end of each month swell. The hospital hoped to post profits eclipsing $2 million in 2009, but posted only a net gain from operations of $500,000. In January, it posted a loss from operations of $76,000.

The losses are attributed to reductions in Medicaid reimbursements to hospitals and other medical care providers, and an increase in the gross receipts tax levied on hospital profits.

Mr. Fahd said that if the downward slope continues, Massena Memorial might have to take a more deliberate look at positions and departments.

Looming state cuts also might threaten the hospital's plans to pursue a multiphase expansion project being reviewed by the state Department of Health.

According to the Healthcare Association, another north country hospital that faces a larger reduction in state funding is Samaritan Medical Center in Watertown. What was a $755,000 projected reduction as of Jan. 28 has reached $914,000.

Hospital spokeswoman Krista A. Kittle said this is something hospital administrators have watched closely.

"These new numbers were the basis of our discussions with elected officials during a recent trip to Albany," she said.

Thomas H. Carman, Samaritan chief executive officer; John J. Wheeler, immediate past chairman of the hospital's board of trustees; Richard A. Brooks, vice president of long-term care and support services, and John Treadwell Woods, vice chairman of Samaritan Keep Home's board of trustees, went to Albany March 3 for talks with area elected officials during Advocacy Day events organized by the Healthcare Association and the New York Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, of which the hospital and Samaritan Keep Home are members.

Other hospitals that face larger reductions include Carthage Area Hospital, which would go from the $52,000 loss projected Jan. 28 to a $171,000 loss as of March 5. Adirondack Medical Center, Saranac Lake, would see its $411,000 loss increase to $489,000.

Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center, Ogdensburg, which faced a $334,000 loss Jan. 28, now faces an estimated $367,000 loss.

While other businesses can refuse to provide products or services to those who cannot pay, a hospital is obliged to treat everyone regardless of a person's ability to pay, according to Claxton-Hepburn spokeswoman Laura C. Shea.

"We are the safety net for the community and would never deny anyone the emergency services they may need," she said. "But after that care, there is a cost involved, which the hospital ends up supplementing. Hitting us again is tough to make up."

Johnson Newspapers writer Matt McAllister contributed to this report.