The data also showed that 55 percent of Pennsylvania’s hospitals have a negative total margin, up from 31 percent over the same period last year.
According to a Spring 2009 HAP study, Pennsylvania hospitals showed similar national trends of decreases in elective surgeries, increases in behavioral health visits and use of emergency departments and increases in the number of patients who are underinsured or uninsured.
Officials from HAP add that cuts in state and federal payments to hospitals could further harm Pennsylvania hospitals in the upcoming months, and proposed budget cuts could lead to hospitals cutting services, education and staff.
Read the release about the decline in Pennsylvania hospitals’ total margins.
