Hospital cutbacks

The rising cost of health care is leading some hospitals to cut services. The effect on patients is obvious. But what about the ripple effect on the entire community?

Residents of Braddock, Pa., are up in arms about the planned closure of the local hospital, a branch of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. As the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports, people aren't just upset about the loss of health care.

"Not only are we losing a hospital, we have lost everything," said Jeanette Stanton, who has lived in Braddock her entire 80 years. She pointed out that the hospital's closure means the loss of the borough's only ATM and that the hospital cafeteria is currently the closest thing the community has to a sit-down restaurant. "What are we supposed to do?"

In another community near Pittsburgh, Ohio Valley General Hospital is shutting down its maternity ward. Not enough babies were being born there to justify keeping the unit open, officials said. Ten hospital staffers already have been laid off.

State and county-owned medical facilities may be hardest hit as governments look for ways to save money. In suburban Chicago, county-owned Oak Forest Hospital has cut 200 jobs. In Connecticut, a psychiatric hospital may be closed to save money.

But while closures and cutbacks may save money, they may also have a hidden cost. NPR's Planet Money reports that medical centers are economic engines in their communities.

The Iowa Hospital Association calculates that every hospital job there creates another two jobs elsewhere in the state's economy. The Cincinnati Children's Hospital estimates that for every dollar it spends leads to another $1.25 in economic value.

The American Hospital Association reported earlier this year that 9 of 10 hospitals across the country have made cuts to address economic concerns (pdf). The AHA has links to state, regional and metropolitan hospital associations. What kinds of additional cutbacks are hospitals in your area considering?

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