New Jersey Grants $44M to Six Hospitals Facing Financial Problems
New Jersey will provide $44 million for six hospitals that provide care for uninsured and low-income residents in an effort to protect the facilities from having to cut services or close, state Health and Senior Services Commissioner Heather Howard announced Wednesday, the Newark Star-Ledger reports. Health department spokesperson Donna Leusner said the state received applications from 13 hospitals that together requested $144 million from the Hospital Stabilization Fund. The fund was created in the current fiscal year to direct state charity care funds toward hospitals that provide the most services to uninsured and low-income residents.
To receive the money, the hospitals must agree to rules that ensure they are managing their finances well, take steps to enroll uninsured state residents in Medicaid and FamilyCare -- the state's version of SCHIP -- and appoint a state government representative to their boards for the duration of the grant. Howard said, "These critical conditions are designed to improve the quality and efficiency and ensure accountability for how the funding is spent."
Betsy Ryan, president and CEO of the New Jersey Hospital Association, said, "While a worthy effort, clearly the needs of New Jersey's hospitals exceed the amount available in the stabilization fund," adding, "This obviously is a very difficult position for a state struggling through a weak economy. But the fact remains that nearly half of the state's hospitals are losing money." Ryan said, "We must ensure appropriate health care funding if we are to avoid adding more hospitals to the list of eight facilities that have closed their doors in the last two years" (Livio, Newark Star-Ledger, 12/4).
