Oregon rural hospitals losing revenue, laying off workers [View all]

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Rural community hospitals in Oregon are seeing revenue plunge and resorting to laying off and firing employees to cope with a ban on elective surgeries while health officials battle the coronavirus outbreak.

Some hospitals have seen revenue decline as much as 60% in a month, said Becky Hultberg, CEO of the Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health Systems.

“Staffing is one of the hospital’s most significant costs. So as revenue declines, some hospitals have been forced to furlough or lay off staff,” she said.

Hospitals in the state have enough capacity to handle an expected peak in virus cases later this month, according to projections, but the association says it's too early to relax the restrictions.

Read more: https://tdn.com/news/state-and-regional/oregon/oregon-rural-hospitals-losing-revenue-laying-off-workers/article_1df2aaf3-77e7-545e-8238-d00aaae3c52c.html
(Longview Daily News)