With ban on non-urgent surgeries, Juneau hospital says it's losing $250,000 a day

Juneau’s city-owned Bartlett Hospital has lost about $250,000 a day in revenue since mid-March, when the state ordered the postponement or cancelation of all non-urgent surgeries and procedures to prioritize the response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Bartlett Regional Hospital has also spent about $600,000 on equipment, supplies and labor preparing for the pandemic. Chief Financial Officer Kevin Benson said it’s not clear if and when the hospital will be reimbursed for that money, but it’s exploring options to recoup funding through FEMA, the newly-passed federal CARES Act or an insurance claim for business interruption.

“I think the bigger concern for us, from a financial impact, is the loss of revenue,” Benson told the hospital’s finance committee on Friday.

By the end of March, the hospital was short about $2.3 million in revenue, Benson said, and it’s lost about the same amount in the first nine days of April. The total revenue shortfall for April is expected to be $4 million, he added.

Read more: https://www.alaskapublic.org/2020/04/13/with-ban-on-non-urgent-surgeries-juneau-hospital-says-its-losing-250000-a-day/