Aug 28, 2003 By Patty Shultz 3 min read

CONNELLSVILLE – When lawmakers return to Harrisburg in September, Highlands Hospital administrators and employees are hoping they will move to reinstate medical reimbursement dollars back into the state budget. Otherwise the facility will be facing a nearly $1 million shortfall in its budget. “During the past 20 years we have survived divestiture from the state and a failed merger with another hospital, yet the current crisis we face is our most critical challenge to date,” said Marcy Ozorowski, AFSCME Local 2340 president.

“How are we going to continue to provide quality health care to our area residents when we are not adequately reimbursed for the services we provide?”

According to hospital officials, the state budget does not include the $250 million Disproportionate Share Payments for those health care facilities providing care to Medicaid patients or those without health insurance.

While Medicaid reimburses the hospital for some costs, Ozorowski said it falls short in compensating for patient care and testing for those arriving at the emergency room and for in-patient care. The Disproportionate Share Payments are to help the hospital recoup some of the Medicaid losses.

For example, said officials, if the hospital was to provide an outpatient service in the short procedure unit for a patient with Medicaid insurance, costing the hospital $500, it would receive approximately 70 percent, or $350.

“We have the largest medical assistance population in the state,” said Ozorowski. “We even surpass inner-city Philadelphia in the number of medical assistance patients we treat on a yearly basis.”

John Andursky, Highlands chief financial officer, said the hospital has seen a significant rise in the number of Medicaid patients in the past year and it has dispensed more than $900,000 in free care to those without any type of insurance.

With the Disproportionate Share Payments, the hospital would be able to recover a portion of the remaining amounts, he said.

“We’re operating in an environment that has become very challenging for us,” said Andursky. “With rising operating costs in health insurance for our employees, pension costs, rapidly escalating malpractice insurance costs, coupled with the reimbursements not keeping with current (cost) levels, this is not the time to exclude these payments from the hospitals.”

Should the legislature fail to have the repayment program reinstated, Andursky said the hospital could only hope for an increase in its patient population and community support of programs to offset the shortfall.

The hospital has recently recruited several new physicians and is in the process of implementing a wellness center to draw patients.

“We’re just trying to do anything we can to promote the hospital and its services,” he said.

Andursky said that Highlands is in a better position than others who may be forced to cut its staff to compensate for the financial losses.

“When it affects jobs, then the state is going to lose,” he said.

The union members, meanwhile, have initiated a mass letter writing campaign, said Ozorowski, in hopes of sparking legislative attention to the matter.

The membership is also seeking help from the public.

“We need the community to join us in this effort,” she said. “This is a major cut in our finances and with cuts totaling nearly $1 million, it is going to adversely affect the operation of this hospital.”