Editorial: Cut UMC’s budget, but not its heart

Wednesday, March 5, 2003 | 9:06 a.m.

It came as a shock to the Clark County Commission last year when, belatedly, the depth of the financial crisis at University Medical Center became known. The county was forced to pump $38 million into the public hospital, money that commissioners had planned to spend on parks, community centers and other public services. The emergency funding, however, did not even amount to a stopgap, as the hospital continues to lose between $2 million and $3 million a month.

Tuesday, the County Commission heard reports from two private auditing firms as well as its own auditors, who have been examining UMC's finances over the past several months. The combined message is that UMC and its patients and employees are in for big changes. Medical and administrative staff will be cut. The notion by many that UMC is a "free" hospital will be dispelled. The Quick Care centers will likely have fewer doctors and registered nurses, and may even be jettisoned from UMC entirely. Patients in long-term care could be culled significantly. Bill collection will become much more aggressive.

There is talk, also, of requiring payment up front, in non-emergency situations, from the working poor who have no private insurance. Clearly, the county cannot continue to absorb losses of more than $30 million a year and changes are necessary. But the working poor, earning just enough to be ineligible for Medicaid, cannot hope to pay in full for expensive diagnostic tests when they are feeling ill, or for a few days in the hospital with all of its attendant fees. Ideally, a way will be found for them to become insured, but that time is not yet here. A UMC task force appointed by the County Commission will offer recommendations by this summer. The county has promised not to change UMC's core mission, that of providing quality care to those who are penniless. We hope the same sensitivity is extended to the working poor.