Westchester County Medical Center Lost Most Money in ’03, Report Says
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ALBANY – The Westchester County Medical Center lost $80 million in 2003, making it the biggest money loser among hospitals in New York, according to a new report based on state data.
Other hospitals suffering shortfalls in the state include Mount Sinai Hospital-Manhattan/Queens, SVCMC/St. Vincent’s Hospital and Medical Center, and Staten Island University Hospital, each of which had losses of about $40 million, the report, published by the New York Health Plan Association, said.
Those figures are significant because Governor Pataki’s Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century, which is determining how to restructure the hospital system in the state and the hospitals to shutter, is factoring into his analysis the financial health of the institutions. Hospitals that are losing money, along with those with higher numbers of empty beds, could be more likely to face the chopping block in coming months.
While pointing to how much hospitals are in the red, the Health Plan Association released the report in an effort to show that the financial plight of hospitals has been exaggerated. The group, an HMO trade association, said two-thirds of New York’s hospitals generated profits in 2003 and New York hospitals as a whole had a net income of more than $900 million.
The biggest money-maker in the state is the Health and Hospitals Corporation, which oversees New York City’s public health care system. It posted a profit of $338 million, the report said. New York-Presbyterian Hospital had a net income in 2003 of more than $108 million, the group said. New York Methodist Hospital had a profit of $20 million, the third-largest gain among New York City hospitals for that year.
New York City hospitals comprised more than a third of hospital profits, the report said. Hospitals in Hudson Valley, on the other hand, had a net loss of almost $2 million.
The association’s figures include “investment income, ancillary business revenues, charitable contributions,” and other revenue sources. HMOs have come under criticism from hospital groups that contend they are taking advantage of cash-strapped hospitals and making outrageous profits.
The president of Greater New York Hospital Association, Kenneth Raske, was quoted in the New York Times as saying, “These H.M.O.’s have eaten the hospitals’ lunch. They’ve made obscene profits by strip-mining communities.”
