Why are hospitals asking for donations?!

amother

Mon, Mar 23 2020, 6:35 pm

I totally understand them asking people to not buy masks or to monopolize the supply but last time we we were in the ICu, we were billed closed to $100,000 a day. The hospitals are being paid enough money that I can't think of any excuse for their colossal failure to have basic protective equipment . They need to pay what it takes to get it even if it needs to be made specially for them . Hospitals are rolling in the dough from what I can tell .

thunderstorm

Mon, Mar 23 2020, 6:53 pm

Stars wrote:

their electricity bill for one month (day?) is probably 100 grand. Did you think of doctors and all other hospital employee salaries? And a bazillion other expenses?

All the new respirators that they don’t usually need and have. This costs millions.

amother

Mon, Mar 23 2020, 7:07 pm

And trust me they are going to be billing insurance companies and people until the sick people go bankrupt with only a small percentage of people who don't pay . .
If they need masks , let them pay people for them ! They are not out to do chessed - they are money makers .

amother

Beige

Mon, Mar 23 2020, 7:08 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

That May be so but if u need them they will be there for you. Now they are trying to secure what they need to care for you. The hospitals are NOT the villains here

amother

Bronze

Mon, Mar 23 2020, 7:36 pm

It's not about the money it's about the supply right now. Having a family member who works in disposable medical supplies I can tell you they have not gotten shipments in mouths due to what's going on in China.
( many businesses have not been getting shipments from China)So everything gets rationed out and supply start to run low and right now with no supplies coming in they get desperate. At the same time there are people do not work in the medical field who are hoarding these precious supplies which is a part of the issue. Look at the toilet paper situation it makes no sense that there's a shortage on toilet paper no one's running to the bathroom that much!! this virus doesn't even cause you to go to the bathroom yet for some reason people stocked up now there are some people might have none left in their house and can't get . On the flip side some people who have 100 packages they don't need but feel the need to hold on to.

amother

Beige

Mon, Mar 23 2020, 7:36 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

In 10 years from now when people are working 3 jobs to pay off their bills from when they had Coronavirus will you still say the hospitals aren't spilling blood ?

You’re looking for an enemy where there’s none. Instead of being angry at hospitals, spend the energy praying you don’t ever need to go. Period. The end.

nanny24/7

Mon, Mar 23 2020, 7:47 pm

I can't speak for all hospitals but am close with someone who knows inside information from a smaller community based hospital.
Pretty much all hospitals canceled all non emergency surgeries and procedures since the beginning of last week in an effort to prevent hospitals from lack of staff and beds. For many hospitals, especially smaller hospitals, this is usually the #1 top source of their income.

amother

Blue

Mon, Mar 23 2020, 8:26 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

they can't buy inventory that doesn't exist.

amother

Lime

Mon, Mar 23 2020, 8:26 pm

What you are billed is different from what insurance is contracted to pay.

Many bills get written off, either charity care or just don't get paid in full.

Imagine what their insurance is.

Their staff deserves to get paid fairly

Beds are not typically full, most hospitals are at a 70-80% capacity, which means that they are only getting revenue and reimbursement for 3/4 of the hospital at any given time. Hospitals which run at 90/95% can get in a jam because they cannot handle and influx when there is a crisis.

Machines, the actual hospital bed itself...... are all expensive beyond your wildest imagination.

Hospitals are currently overhauling spaces, forming negative pressure rooms and all sorts of things to mitigate the situation. These are expensive to create to begin with, especially when you are working under emergency situations.

I'm too tired to go on.

amother

Cerise

Mon, Mar 23 2020, 10:39 pm

I work in a hospital that unfortunately became an epicenter in my state. We had to open 3 extra floors only for Covid19 patients and additional ICU. For all these units we had to buy more respirators, vitals monitors for continuous monitoring, central stations. You can’t even imagine the cost of the equipment. And we have to pay now, not when insurance payments will come. And majority of patients are on Medicaid or Medicare, which don’t pay much.
In addition, we need more nurses now, which means more salaries.
My hospital has published an appeal for money. You can read about it in this article.

https://www.nj.com/coronavirus......html

Brachie69

Mon, Mar 23 2020, 10:50 pm

amother [ Cerise ] wrote:

Is it a for profit or not for profit hospital? Definitely makes sense for hospitals to need equipment donations now.

amother

Burlywood

Tue, Mar 24 2020, 4:56 pm

Yes I totally don't see how this is fair. DH went to the hospital with a suspected kidney stone, they gave him a Percocet that they billed $200/pill for, saw he had eh insurance and didn't even check for a kidney stone he didn't see a Dr just a PA and sent him home. We got an $1,800 bill. 3 years later and we still owe $500.

Now the same hospital is asking for donations of masks. I happen to have masks (DH bought a damaged box job lot) so I called and asked if they wanted to buy them. They said no because normally they pay less for the masks. They think it's price gouging if the masks are now $7 instead of $3. Well guess what. I can't buy them for less than $7 now either. And I can sell them to someone else for a lot more.

Really someone should report hospitals to OSHA. Lots of people have masks. They don't want to pay the market price. So they aren't providing proper safety equipment.

They sell a $0.50 bag of saline for $500 and that's not price gouging. But a $7 mask and they cry how it's unfair.

Hospitals in other countries somehow manage to provide very good care for less than half the cost so I don't really have patience for it.

When they donate my medical care I can donate their masks.