Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Conn. Spent Hundreds Of Millions To Make Hospital Viable, But Now It's In Worse Shape Than Ever
The CT Mirror: UConn Health Finds Itself Pretty Ill Fiscally
University leaders for years said UConn Health’s John Dempsey Hospital was too small and outdated to be financially viable, but three separate attempts between 2008 and 2010 to overhaul the campus or merge the hospital with a larger network of hospitals failed to cross the finish line... Now heading into the second full year that many of the new facilities have been open, university officials say UConn Health’s fiscal picture is the worst it has been in a long time – and it is going to continue to deteriorate unless major changes are made. (Rabe Thomas, 6/12)
The Philadelphia Inquirer: Suburban Hospital Sales Expected To Hit School Districts Financially
The pending sale of Pottstown Memorial Medical Center presents a troubling prospect to school district officials in the Montgomery County borough. The hospital, now owned by the for-profit Community Health Systems Inc., is the school district’s largest real estate taxpayer by far. The assessment of the main hospital alone, is $20.26 million, about twice the value of the next-biggest property, a shopping mall. Altogether, Pottstown Memorial’s property tax bill for the school district, including two smaller properties, was $923,998, public records show. That amounts to 3.2 percent of the $28.65 million the school district budgeted from real estate taxes for the 2016-17 school years. (Brubaker, 6/12)
Nashville Tennessean: Commission Strikes Down Proposal To Study Sale Of Hospital
Despite public support from citizens, Williamson County Commissioners won't create a task force to study the feasibility of selling Williamson Medical Center anytime soon. With 16 commissioners voting against the proposal, drafted by Gregg Lawrence, and seven voting in favor, there was widespread confusion and disagreement about what state law actually says about how money from the sale of county-owned hospitals can be used. While state law says proceeds from such a sale must be used for health purposes, commissioners found the language to be arbitrary and worth questioning. (Sauber, 6/12)
