Care for Poor, Uninsured ‘Inadequate’ At New York City’s Public Hospitals, Study Finds

"Consolidation of services" and staff reductions at New York City public hospitals have led to reduced quality of care for the city's poor and uninsured, according to a study released May 7. Newsday reports that the study, titled "Sinking to the Bottom Line," analyzed decisions made by the city's Health and Hospitals Corporation to cut cost and the subsequent effect those decisions had on patient care. Since 1994, the corporation -- which operates the "nation's largest public health system," with 11 hospitals -- has "cut 12,000 jobs and eliminated 3,120 beds," resulting in $10 million in savings. However, the report found that as a result, low-income patients have had to endure "longer waits for appointments, overcrowded emergency rooms and inadequate care." Judith Wessler, director of the Commission on the Public's Health System and co-author of the study, said that "fierce competition with private hospitals for Medicaid patients combined with an increased number of uninsured immigrants has placed a heavy burden on city-run hospitals." Newsday reports that more than 50% of the corporation's $4 billion in revenue comes from Medicaid funding. Last year, the city's public hospitals treated more than 560,000 uninsured patients, up from 495,000 in 1999. Wessler added, "HHC has bought into the competitive mode and because of a lack of adequate financial resources has downsized and adopted policies that create barriers in access to care" (Ramirez, Newsday, 5/8).