Salary freezes and layoffs are possible at MetroHealth System this year to keep the hospital at least even with rising costs, according the The Plain Dealer.
The safety-net hospital for Cuyahoga County told employees Wednesday that it made a slim profit in 2008 — that during a year of management turnover and financial turnaround.
The hospital system reported unaudited profit of $691,000 on revenues of $685.9 million last year, The Plain Dealer said.
A Personalized Approach to Medication Nonadherence
At the Abarca Forward conference earlier this year, George Van Antwerp, managing director at Deloitte, discussed how social determinants of health and a personalized member experience can improve medication adherence and health outcomes.
In 2007, MetroHealth lost $2.2 million. The hospital lost $8 million in the first quarter of 2008 alone, the paper reported.
“We were able to climb out of that deep hole and finish out a break-even year,” MetroHealth interim Chief Executive Mark Moran wrote in a note to employees on Wednesday.
In an interview with The Plain Dealer, Moran said his hospital system faces another tough year. MetroHealth is bracing for more uninsured patients as people lose their jobs and employer-paid insurance in the ongoing recession.
 As a result, “Everything is on the table,” from salary freezes to layoffs, to help keep the system financially afloat, Moran said.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Since Moran took over in March, he has overseen two staff cuts of about 100 jobs, as well as several procedural and cost-cutting moves designed to solve the system’s past losses.
Other stories worth a read:
- Free medical care for all comes to Cuyahoga County — for two days in May (The Plain Dealer)
- Procter & Gamble looks to exit pharmaceuticals (Reuters/Financial Times)
- Biogen, Dyax ink $84 million IP deal(FierceBiotech)
- Thriving biotech insulates South City from recession(San Francisco Examiner, via FierceBiotech)
- Cigna finds fashionable way to boost profit: Cut bonuses (WSJ Health Blog)
- Study: Medical facilities defer projects (Orlando Business Journal)
