BY MARY JO LAYTON
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
As more patients become insured by Medicaid, hospitals are providing less charity care, one of the major factors in an $89 million decrease in state subsidies that left some hospitals losing nearly half their funding.
Executives at hospitals throughout New Jersey were digesting the numbers released Thursday afternoon from the state Department of Health, which are based on documented care provided in the previous year.
There were dramatic increases and decreases.
Bergen Regional Medical Center in Paramus, the state’s largest hospital, is receiving $19.9 million, far less than the $36.6 million received last year, while Hackensack University Medical Center’s subsidy more than doubled to $16.5 million this year, according to state data.
“Since HackensackUMC serves as an important safety-net hospital for the state, an increase in funding will enable us to continue our mission to provide world-class healthcare to everyone in the communities we serve,’’ said Robert C. Garrett, president and chief executive officer of Hackensack University Health Network, the hospitals’ parent company.
A spokeswoman for Bergen Regional said, “We are still in the process of assessing the impact this information will have on the Medical Center.”
https://www.northjersey.com/news/n-j-looks-to-cut-89m-in-hospital-subsidies-1.1518351
