Rural hospitals lose half of their revenues, cut staff hours amid pandemic

Rural hospitals lose half of their revenues, cut staff hours amid the pandemic.

Rural hospitals in Southwest Florida are seeing a significant drop in revenue due to mandates in place as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

At both DeSoto Memorial Hospital and Hendry Regional Medical Center, there has been a 50 percent drop in revenues due in part to a ban on elective surgeries.

Vince Sica, the CEO of DeSoto Memorial hospital, said the Governor’s executive order to ban elective surgeries was necessary to preserve space in the hospital.

DMH has had to cut staff hours by twenty percent across the board, from the administration on down.

All fulltime staff and medical professionals are now working only four out of five days a week, and taking the fifth day as a furlough or unpaid day off.

“One of the things that has occurred that’s a good thing and a bad thing is that our volume in the ER and our volume with regards to radiology services whether it’s a mammograms, CT scans, MRIs and things of that nature … are all lower than normal and I mean significantly lower than normal,” said Sica.

DMH has received about $650,000 in federal funding so far as part of the CARES Act and hopes that more is available as the pandemic continues.

The CARES act funding has helped Hendry Regional Medical prevent staff furloughs so far according to HRMC Foundation marketing director Electa Woodall.

“Our elective procedure volume in surgery as well as in imaging, physical therapy and laboratory is now almost non-existent. Very few patients are seeking care if there is any way to defer it,” said Woodall in an email to WINK News.

She said without additional federal funds, HRMC will need to take action to reduce the workforce to cut down on operating expenses.