The number is cited in a March 4 letter from the North Dakota Hospital Association to the North Dakota Department of Human Services.
In the letter, the hospital association spoke out against the Medicaid cuts, saying the loss will remove approximately $7.3 million in salaries and benefits in the health system, resulting in the need to reduce workforce by about 125, according to the report. The letter also noted that necessary capital spending would be reduced by about $5 million.
However, Dwight Thompson, Altru’s CFO, noted the figures included in the letter represented a “worst-case” scenario.
“I think the (hospital association) is trying to find a way to help the department hit their budget objectives and looking at alternative ways of doing it other than what they’ve proposed,” Mr. Thompson said, according to Prairie Business. “But there’s been no decision on that that I’m aware of.”
The letter was sent after North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple (R) ordered a 4.05 percent budget cut in February to help fill a budget shortfall of nearly $1.1 billion, according to the report. The state’s DHS was required to cut its general fund budget by almost $54 million.
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