Roosevelt General Hospital implements temporary changes to provide relief of financial strain
PORTALES, NM, May 16, 2023 - Roosevelt General Hospital & Clinics (RGH) are experiencing a difficult year financially. A number of factors contribute to the financial hardships facing RGH, including staff shortages and an increase of higher wages to recruit qualified employees, mandated wage increases, skyrocketing insurance premiums, inflation, enormous upsurge in cost of supplies and medical equipment, detrimental changes in insurance payments and authorizations, rising utility costs, and volatile markets.
“It has been difficult to recover after the pandemic, and with these added stressors, the hospital is faced with making tough decisions to stabilize our financial position,” states Kaye Green, CEO of RGH. “We have asked our staff to help by reducing expenditures, eliminating over-time, working less hours temporarily, and considering voluntary furloughs.” We are working hard to ensure employee benefits are not impacted by the current reduction in hours during this critical time.
Kaye explains, “These unusual circumstances have called for unusual solutions. It was a very difficult decision to ask our hospital staff to temporarily reduce the number of hours they work. We know these are life decisions and not just business decisions. Every step we are taking now is to avoid more severe actions which would have a greater impact on our workforce in the future. We must right-size our organization to ensure our future sustainability.”
In a report provided by the American Hospital Association, it forecasted the end of 2022 would be the most difficult year for hospital and health systems in financial terms since the beginning of the pandemic. As seen by RGH, this prediction is coming true. In fact, many hospitals are facing the same hardships which has led to layoffs, decreasing services, and closures.
“We will pull through this with the help of our dedicated employees,” claimed Jeanette Orrantia, Director of Marketing and Public Relations at RGH. “We know how important our hospital and clinics are to our community, and we want to ensure we are here for future health care needs.”
Hospital administrators across the nation are having to find creative new ways to support their margins. At this time, services at RGH and clinics will not be interrupted.
“As cost-of-living rises, we may see a decline in patient volumes. If prices for necessities such as food and transportation continue to increase, patients may be less likely to pursue healthcare services because of cost,” voiced Mrs. Green. Roosevelt General Hospital is urging patients not to delay care which could ultimately affect their treatment.