Amid a pandemic that has sickened thousands in the U.S., many hospitals and doctors are grappling with an unexpected side effect: a financial squeeze that could deplete the health-care resources needed to meet local surges in cases and threatens the operations of some financially struggling hospitals, the Wall Street Journal reported. Coronavirus patients are overwhelming hospitals in cities including New York, New Orleans and Detroit. As others brace for similar spikes, they are also seeing sharp drop-offs in regular doctor visits, emergency-room arrivals and the lucrative surgeries that are vital to most hospitals’ bottom lines. Hospitals are burning through cash even as nonprofit operators have seen their reserves in investment portfolios dented, spurring credit agencies to put the sector on a negative outlook— despite an expected influx of money from a newly passed federal aid package. HCA Healthcare Inc., one of the nation’s largest hospital operators, has closed clinics and outpatient facilities and cut employees’ hours. A family-medicine practice in Dallas furloughed a third of its staff. A major 48-hospital nonprofit system will put 700 workers on temporary leave.
