HHC Hopes Federal Stimulus Will Offset State Cuts

New York, NY —

The city’s public hospital system is bracing for a mixed bag of budget cuts from Albany -- and possible federal stimulus money from Washington. WNYC’s Fred Mogul has more.

REPORTER: At a community forum in the Bronx, a Health and Hospitals Corporation official laid out some of the complicated and competing formulas affecting services at the city’s public hospitals, clinics, nursing homes and long-term care centers. Senior Vice President LaRay Brown says the city agrees with state efforts to shift funding from expensive inpatient service to less-costly outpatient service, as long as Albany also boosts payments for both types of service, as promised.

BROWN: The global aim is to have the cost of a particular type of inpatient service to be much more closely linked to the reimbursement for service.

REPORTER: The Health and Hospitals Corporation is looking at a net loss of almost $130 million in the coming budget year. Brown and others say the federal stimulus package could offset some of that, but it’s not clear by how much –- or for how long.

For WNYC, I’m Fred Mogul.