The hospitals serving New York City’s neediest and most vulnerable patients face a financial reckoning as a result of the new coronavirus outbreak and uncertain stimulus funding from Washington, D.C., officials at the institutions say, the Wall Street Journal reported. New York City’s Health + Hospitals system is running with about 18 days of cash on hand, officials say. The 11-hospital system will go lean on cash in June and July if more federal funding doesn’t begin to flow, including from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Officials say they are holding off decisions on internal cuts or layoffs until they have a stronger sense whether more federal funding is in store. Typically, Health + Hospitals operates with a 1 percent margin, officials said. Revenue losses have been roughly $20 million a week since the outbreak began in March, but officials are hopeful they will rebound as the institutions resume elective surgeries and ambulatory care.
