COLUMBUS, Ohio — More than 40 percent of Ohio hospitals considering layoffs for later this year are in rural areas, according to additional results of a survey by the hospital industry’s state interest group.
Last week, the Ohio Hospital Association said 35 hospitals were planning layoffs sometime in the next six months. About 41 percent of those hospitals are in rural areas, the association stated today.
“Much of rural Ohio is already underserved,’’ Bruce White, chief executive at Knox Community Hospital in Mt. Vernon, stated in the release. “Patients who live in rural areas have limited choices of clinics, providers and hospitals. These survey results – and the [Ohio governor’s] budget plan – suggest they could have even fewer.’’
One hundred ten of the association’s 174 hospitals responded to the survey. The OHA would not release the names of hospitals that expected to announce layoffs this year, the institutions that responded to the survey, nor a copy of the survey.
The OHA survey also stated that 42 percent of its responding hospitals have already enacted hiring or salary freezes this year, and that within the last six month 29 percent canceled or delayed construction projects or capital improvements.
The survey also claimed the layoffs could come in areas including nursing, radiology and physical therapy, among others. Most of the layoffs this year have come in non-clinical areas.
Hospital officials want to use these surveys in their battle against a new franchise fee that would help win federal money for the state and plug holes in the state budget. Many hospitals were comfortably profitable for years, but the OHA says that increased interest rates on bonds, climbing unemployment, the terrible economy and the uninsured have dessimated some institutions.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
The survey question on layoffs didn’t address the new tax. But other health systems have said they would layoff staff if the tax was approved.
[Photo courtesy of Flickr user Madaise]
