Here are some interesting statistics on hospital finances in the economic downturn, according to the March survey report titled Healthcare Financial Pulse: How Hospitals are Combating the Financial Downturn by the Healthcare Financial Management Association, which was based on responses…

The 2009 Survey of Health Care Consumers, conducted by the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions, found that 94 percent of Americans surveyed believed that healthcare costs were a threat to their personal financial security, according to a summary from Deloitte.

Ohio-based Summa Health System announced that it will be freezing the salaries of all non-union employees in an effort to cut costs in light of the current economic situation, according to a report in the Stow Sentry.

Louisiana lawmakers urged the state's 10 public hospitals to cut administrative costs rather than services in the face of budget problems, according to a report in The Baton Rouge Advocate.

The Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission recommended a 1.2 percent increase in the amount hospitals can charge patients in 2010, which was less than the 3.8 percent increase hospitals had wanted, according to a report in the Baltimore Business…

Minneapolis-based Allina Hospitals & Clinics has reached an agreement with Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson to credit $1.1 million to thousands of patients who paid high interest rates on outstanding medical bills, according to a report on Forbes.com.

Administrators at Christus St. Elizabeth Hospital in Beaumont, Texas, have supported the creation of a hospital taxing district in an effort to keep the doors to its trauma center open, according to a report in the Beaumont Enterprise.

The Hospital Corporation of America has previewed its first-quarter 2009 earnings and anticipates gains over its earnings for first-quarter 2008, according to an HCA news release.

A study by the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, a Chicago-based tax policy group, has found that Chicago non-profit hospitals receive three dollars in tax breaks for every one dollar they spend on charity care, according to a CTBA…

Bon Secours Hospital in Baltimore has asked the state of Maryland for $5 million to avoid closure, according to a report in the Baltimore Sun.