The U.S. health care sector created 14,500 new jobs in January, while overall employment from all U.S. business sectors fell by 20,000 jobs, according to new Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) preliminary data released late this week.  Those additional health care sector jobs helped the national unemployment rate fall from 10 percent to 9.7 percent. 

Hospitals accounted for 5,000 new payroll additions in January, while ambulatory services accounted for 15,000 payroll additions and physicians’ offices accounted for 5,600 payroll additions.  Some areas of the health care sector lost jobs in January; nursing and residential care facilities reported 5,800 payroll reductions. 

The health care sector created 267,000 new jobs in 2009, including 22,000 payroll additions in December, according to BLS data.

Throughout the economic downturn, hospital and health care employment has remained relatively stable. Many Iowans who have lost their jobs have turned to health care to start new careers. This is a smart move; health care offers work that is challenging, rewarding and well-paying.

Many hospitals offer scholarships to help pay for college education in health care.  IHA has its own scholarship program that has helped dozens of Iowans start or advance their hospital careers.

Earlier this week, Grinnell Regional Medical Center announced the good news about setting a record for contributions to its annual fund.  In a down year for the economy, this could be considered an amazing achievement. But here at IHA, we are hearing similar news from other hospitals.  At the same time, many Iowa hospitals are at various stages of construction, whether it be partial or large-scale remodels or entire hospital replacements. Nearly all of these projects were made possible, at least in part, by community philanthropy (as well as contributions from the hospital employees themselves).

The timing and support of these efforts says a lot about where hospitals and health care stand among Iowa’s priorities.  Clearly, with 118 hospitals, more than 70,000 employees and $5.8 billion in economic impact, Iowans recognize the value that these institutions bring to their communities, our state and everyone’s quality of life.

Iowans are known for their generosity, but they are also thoughtful about their giving, especially in these times.  Our hospitals continue to be a sound investment. And for those who want to contribute, hospitals offer their own legacy of giving and growth that instills community pride and individual achievement.

It’s too big for a bow, but Mount Ayr is getting one sweet present this holiday season.

Ringgold County Hospital will open in its new facility on December 20. The hospital replaces a building that was built nearly 60 years ago.

The new facility will provide many advantages compared to the old hospital, which was built in 1951. One of the most important aspects of the new building is the efficiency of space. The new medical complex is 61,000 square feet, a vast improvement over the old, land-locked hospital with 38,000 square feet.  With the additional space, many of the medical areas and services will become more departmentalized.

The new one-level facility will also have two entrances. The south entrance will be for patients, visitors and employees, the north is for delivery and ambulance services. The helipad will be in its own area on the north side of the building. This will eliminate the problem of re-routing traffic and parking that existed at the old facility, where he helipad is in the center of the parking lot.

Other new additions patients can expect to see will be 16 private patient rooms and seven dialysis stations. With the seven dialysis stations, it will ease the problem at the old facility of patients having to start dialysis treatment at 4:30 a.m.so everyone can get through. There will also be radiant heating panels above each station.

Construction on the new hospital began in October 2008.

Ringgold County Hospital employs more than 120 people and has a $7.2 million impact on the area.

Information released this week by the American Hospital Association (AHA) shows how the worsening economy has taken a toll on U.S. hospitals. 

According to AHA, U.S. hospitals provided $36.4 billion in uncompensated care in 2008, a $2.4 billion increase over 2007.  Uncompensated care is the combination of bad debt (money hospitals expected to receive for care provided but did not) and charity care (money not expected to be received from patients who met the hospital’s guidelines for free care). 

In Iowa hospitals, uncompensated care totaled $709 million in 2008, up from $613 million in 2007. 

Meanwhile, underpayment by Medicare and Medicaid to U.S. hospitals reached $32.4 billion in 2008, up from $31.9 billion in 2007 and $3.8 billion in 2000, respectively.  Medicare reimbursed 91 cents and Medicaid reimbursed 89 cents for every dollar hospitals spent caring for these patients.  In Iowa during 2008, Medicaid losses totaled nearly $178 million, while Medicare losses amounted to $103 million. 

The poor economy and the rising cost of insurance have led to more people becoming uninsured.  Research has shown that for every one percentage point increase in unemployment, 2.5 million people lose their employer-sponsored insurance.  More uninsured people means more spending by hospitals to pay for care for people who cannot pay for it themselves. 

Some of the uninsured qualify for government assistance to pay their medical bills, often through the Medicaid program.  But Medicaid doesn’t pay hospitals for the full cost of care (neither does Medicare, but Medicaid pays even less) and hospitals must cover the difference.  With more people going on Medicaid, that difference is growing larger. 

How does this impact hospitals?  Well, for one thing, the growing demand for charity care and more instances of bad debt makes it harder for hospitals to pay better salaries (it’s well known that Iowa nurses salaries are among the lowest in the nation) that help keep medical professionals (particularly young ones) in the state.  It also makes it harder for hospitals to build reserves that pay for replacing aging equipment and improving services. 

But uncompensated care and underpayment by Medicaid and Medicare also impact individual Iowans, because these costs are shifted to payers who do cover their full cost of care – mainly people who are privately insured.  In Iowa, Wellmark has estimated that 10-15 percent of the dollars it pays to Iowa hospitals and physicians is to compensate for government programs’ shortfall. 

Uncompensated care and underpayment by Medicaid and Medicare are always a challenge for hospitals.  This is why IHA supports efforts to insure more Iowans and more Americans and why IHA has fought to keep the government from cutting Medicare and Medicaid payments.

Virginia Gay Hospital in Vinton will be celebrating an important milestone in its ongoing $8.5 million expansion and renovation project.  Improved areas will be open for public touring this week, including imaging services (with new equipment and private waiting areas, emergency services (now with five fully equipped private exam rooms), therapy and rehabilitation (featuring a new hydrotherapy pool) and acute care, which is now fully private and completely remodeled.

It was 95 years ago this year that former Vinton resident Virginia Gay willed $50,000 to the city for the purpose of building a hospital.  With that initial donation (worth more than $1 million in today’s dollars), the hospital was able to open in 1923.  Today, her namesake hospital has more than 200 employees and provides more than $9 million to the local economy.

Much like Virginia Gay herself, the people of Vinton and Benton County continue to invest in their hospital.  More than $2 million was raised to support the $8.5 million effort.