University of Colorado Hospital Places Uninsured Patients on Waiting Lists to Curb Costs

While the University of Colorado Hospital's mission statement includes "a promise to help the uninsured," a "swelling" demand for services and rising health care costs have forced administrators at the Denver hospital to place many patients on waiting lists, the Denver Post reports. Molly Market of the Metro Community Provider Network said that hundreds of uninsured residents "suffering from life-threatening conditions face closed doors" at University Hospital. According to University Hospital CFO Forrest Cason, the $30 million in federal funds that the hospital received in 2000 to treat the uninsured "isn't enough." He blamed "spiked" technology costs, nursing shortages and rising prescription drug costs for the "shriveled" number of uninsured patients that the hospital treats -- 57,255 in 2000, down from 63,477 in 1998 with approximately the same funding. Larry Wall, president of the Colorado Hospital Association, added that emergency room visits also "devour" about 60% of the hospital's funds for treating the uninsured, with many low-income patients seeking ER care after clinics refuse to treat them. Last year, University Hospital suffered $9.8 million in losses after admitting "too many" uninsured patients, forcing administrators to "strictly" adhere to a state law that requires hospitals to "give priority" to the sickest patients, the Post reports. But Barry Martin, director of the Metro Community Provider Network, a group of state clinics that provide care for the uninsured, said that private hospitals "shuffle" uninsured residents to metro hospitals, such as University, which receive federal funding, leaving no "safety net for adults." He added, "You start going down the list, and there are people who need ... surgery ... and there's really nowhere for them to go" (Sherry, Denver Post, 2/19).