Maine Med $13.4M down, freezes hiring
The state's largest hospital, Maine Medical Center, has declared a hiring and travel freeze as it faces a $13.4 million operating shortfall through the first half of its fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.
The Bangor Daily News reported hospital CEO Richard Petersen wrote in a memo to employees that the shortfall puts the hospital in "a negative financial position it has not witnessed in recent memory."
The hospital's total "net patient services revenue" is nearly $900 million.
In that memo, Petersen attributed the shortfall to declining patient volumes, which Steven Michaud, president of the Maine Hospital Association, said is a problem many hospitals across the state are facing.
Part of that drop is due to lower readmission rates and better care, Petersen wrote, but that doesn't explain all of the decline.
Michaud said that economic troubles are likely the cause of lower patient volumes as more health care costs are being shifted to employees.
The paper reported that glitches with the hospital's electronic patient record system have also caused incorrect billing that have had "some unintended financial consequences," Petersen wrote.
Through the cutbacks, Petersen wrote that patients should see "no appreciable difference in their care."
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