Dive Brief:
- The Miami Medical Center will temporarily pause all patient services beginning Nov. 1 as it pursues additional capital or a possible sale, the South Florida Business Journal reported.
- The 67-bed hospital, which did not respond to queries about the suspension of services, said previously scheduled surgeries and newborn deliveries will be completed. However, no new patients will be admitted after Oct. 31.
- Miami Medical, which reopened in February 2016 following major renovations, has been working with an investment banking firm to secure capital or a sale.
Dive Insight:
According to the hospital’s website, the renovations cost more than $130 million and added 25,000 square feet on the top floor, 6 luxury suites, 16 post-partum suites, nine state-of-the-art operating rooms, for labor and delivery rooms and three cesarean rooms.
Many hospitals are struggling as patient care shifts from inpatient to outpatient and virtual care settings and facilities face reimbursement cuts. Speaking on an industry panel earlier this year, Cleveland Clinic CEO Tony Cosgrove said more than half of U.S. hospitals suffered operating losses in 2016. The Clinic didn’t escape that fate, posting a 71% drop in operating income for the year. While healthcare reforms are pushing hospitals to transform care delivery, they aren’t receiving adequate funding to do so, he said.
Additionally, uncertainty about the future of the Affordable Care Act and efforts by Republicans and President Donald Trump to roll back Medicaid expansion raise the specter of more uncompensated care for hospitals.
In June, Summa Health said it would cut 300 positions and scale back services in the face of a $60 million operating loss. Meanwhile, NYC Health + Hospitals reported a $76 million operating loss in the first half of fiscal 2017, and Care New England announced it is closing Memorial Hospital in Providence, R.I., due to declining volumes and mounting losses.
Florida is still recovering from Hurricane Irma. Whether the disruption of services or other factors surrounding the storm may have compounded Miami Medical’s financial strain is unclear, but the search for capital or a sale suggest more deep-seated problems requiring a long-term solution. No date was indicated for when the hospital may resume services.