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Petersburg Medical Center warns Medicaid cuts could substantially affect operations
Summary
Petersburg Medical Center CEO Phil Hofstetter told the borough assembly the hospital receives roughly one-third of its funding from Medicaid and that proposed federal cuts could force program or service reductions unless the community offsets losses.
Phil Hofstetter, chief executive officer of Petersburg Medical Center, told the borough assembly on March 3 that the hospital could face substantial operational impacts if Medicaid funding is reduced.
"We have a third of our funding that comes from Medicaid. So it'd be pretty substantial depending on how that gets rolled out," Hofstetter said in his report to the assembly, noting that the details of any federal action will determine what the medical center might need to change operationally.
Hofstetter said the hospital has not yet experienced interruptions in grants or projects tied to federal executive actions but emphasized the speed of recent developments and the uncertainty they create. He said he had reached out to U.S. Senator Murkowski's office and could provide a letter to the assembly packet outlining the medical center's concerns.
Hofstetter described the hospital's financial situation as unusual for a community hospital because the borough lacks a dedicated tax base to substitute for lost program revenue. "If we're gonna be in a situation where we have to cut programs or cut certain services in the organization, then we have to decide as a community if that's going to be something we would offset and supplement," he said.
In questions from the assembly, Hofstetter said the medical center had not yet experienced freezes to recent Medicaid or Medicare payments and that ongoing construction and projects remained on track at the time of the meeting. He cautioned, however, that the situation could change "on a moment's notice."
Ending: Hofstetter provided more-detailed material to the assembly on request and said he would include a letter to Senator Murkowski in a future packet; the assembly discussed the need for potential targeted advocacy on health-care program changes.
