State cuts more than $550,000 from East End hospitals
The East End’s three hospitals will
lose $557,000 in the latest round of budget cuts passed Monday night by
the state Legislature to keep the government from shutting down.
The
so-called extender package approved Monday is the 11th since April 1,
when the state, as usual, failed to adopt an on-time budget.
The
extension pays for state operations only through June 20, when another
would be necessary, unless a budget agreement is reached.
Peconic
Bay Medical Center in Riverhead takes the largest hit of the three East
End hospitals, with $220,000 in new cuts. Southampton Hospital is
losing $169,000 and Eastern Long Island Hospital $168,000.
Added
to state losses is a cut in federal funds that results from what East
End Health Alliance spokesman Andrew Mitchell called “the multiplier.”
When the state cuts funds, he explained in an interview on Friday, it
affects Medicaid reimbursements from the federal government, which
purposely made more money available to hospitals to offset some of the
effects of the recession. New York State’s action is “diametrically
opposed” to the federal effort, Mr. Mitchell said.
