Houston-area hospitals are now assessing the financial damage from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita:
Several Houston hospitals are estimating the price tag for the help they offered during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita could be about $10 million for each medical facility.
But hospital officials said the costs are just a part of their mission to help the needy.
“That’s what we’re here for,” said Pat Carrier, chief executive of Christus Health Gulf Coast. “We had to do what we had to do.”
Officials don’t expect the losses to result in job cuts or the cancellation of projects, but there will be systemwide belt-tightening.
Much of the costs are related to the medical treatment of Katrina evacuees, a large portion of whom had no health insurance, hospital executives said.
The threat of Rita cost hospitals millions in preparations and the loss of patient revenue.
“I just explained to our board … that our month of September will be a horrendous financial month for our system,” said Dan Wolterman, president and chief executive of the Memorial Hermann Healthcare System. “We had two unanticipated catastrophes.”
Hospital executives are still figuring out how to cover their losses.
Federal aid may help, but several hospital executives said that won’t cover all their costs.
A recently approved federal waiver allowing Katrina evacuees to be enrolled in the state’s Medicaid program might offer some help.
“We do hope to recoup some of the money from the government,” said University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Chief Financial Officer Leon Leach.
