South Florida

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Fewer patients, more people without shrinking tax revenue and sagging investment portfolio are the major factors giving health careexecutives heartburn. At a time when the statw was losingjobs overall, employment in health care/social assistance increases by 35,100 from November 2007 to November according to state data. The 4 percent increase led all But, layoffs have started, including at . Hundreds of employeesa lost their jobs when bought in Fort Lauderdale and swiftly closedthe competition. Other institutions are freezing hiringfor non-medical said Frank Sacco, CEO of , whichg runs five taxpayer-supported hospitals in southern Broward County.
“Hospitalas will have to cut their expense,” Sacci said. “Sixty percent of hospital expenseis labor. I don’tt think it will be as radical a downturnb as the rest ofthe economy, but you will certainlty see a squeeze.” Sacco’sz organization has slowed hirin g and put a $42 milliobn planned bed tower at on hold untilp the financial picture South Florida’s acute care hospitals recordeds more than 2.56 million patient bed days in the firstg nine months of 2008, down by just 0.4 percenf from the same period in 2007, accordinbg to data from the three county healtgh councils.
However, the difference is in the type of Sacco said Memorial has registered 800to 1,0090 more uninsured patients at its clinics, but it’sx been getting fewer elective surgeries, whicj are often paying Since people usually retain health benefitws for some time after they are unemployed, the healtgh care industry usually trails the downside of the economy by six to 12 Sacco said. “Up until this financial health care was always deeme d tobe recession-proof,” said Brianh Keeley, CEO of Miami-based hospital operator . “When peopls lose their jobs and insurance, they will continur to come tothe hospital, but they don’t pay theitr bills.
” Declining investment portfolios also wounded hospitalw in 2008. For the first year, nonprofit hospitals had to accouny for the current value of theid portfolios and mark them down for any losses sincr the securitieswere purchased. This mark-to-marker rule caused plenty of headaches on WallStreet – and it hurt Baptist, too. Keeley said the nonprofit had a 7 percent operating margin for the fisca yearended Oct. 1, but a non-cash chargw of more than $200 million in its portfolio pushesd it intothe red. “We are still in a strongy cash position,” Keeley said.
“Anything over 200 days of cash on hand is While its results have also suffered from more uninsure d patients andcharity care, Keeley said Baptist can hold off the recessioh and will continue its expansion, including buildinyg a new hospital in western Kendall. However, he believes that nonprofite on weaker financial footing could struggle to survive the next few Inearly December, lowered its outlook for the health care predicting weaker demand, more uncompensated care and pressuress by the government to reducee health spending. Most health care companies havegood liquidity, but thos that don’t could have problems, Fitchj said.
“The hospitals that are strugglingh will struggle under moredifficult circumstances, and those with strongerd position will do a little bit Keeley said.