Audit: NuHealth had $164 million loss in 2022, putting patient care at NUMC at risk
NUMC is Long Island’s largest safety-net hospital, meaning the facility is the only place for people who need medical care and can’t afford it.
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A multi-million dollar operating loss at Nassau University Medical Center could put patient health and hospital jobs trouble in danger.
A recent audit shows that NuHealth, which runs NUMC, had an operating loss of $164 million in 2022. Anthony Boutin, CEO of NUMC, says the hospital needs to get a big chunk of money from the state and the federal government to run effectively since the public hospital operates through public money.
NUMC is Long Island’s largest safety-net hospital, meaning the facility is the only place for people who need medical care and can’t afford it.
In a statement to News 12, the hospital’s CEO said in part, “There is no replacement for the $1 billion in health care services we provide annually. The politicians who claim to care about these communities can restore that funding or willfully allow this hospital to struggle.”
Boutin says shortfalls in collections due to low Medicaid reimbursements, patients' inability to pay for services, inflation and rising worker costs are the reason for the huge operating loss.
Pastor Arthur Mackey Jr., of Mount Sinai Baptist Church Cathedral, says it is a “problem that they allowed to build up.”
“They should have been investing in the Nassau County Medical Center,” Mackey Jr. says.
The pastor says his father was the first Black president of the NUMC board. He says if the operating losses lead to the hospital closing down, it would be horrible for people who rely on it.
“The hospital is a lifeline for the poor, the hospital is a lifeline for the uninsured, for those on Medicaid and Medicare and Obamacare and too many of our elected officials have an ‘I don’t care’ attitude,” Mackey Jr. says.
The hospital’s CEO maintains that the state knows well that the deep cuts made in aid will put the facility in a very bad financial position by early next year.
The communications director for U.S. Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, who represents the district in East Meadow where the hospital stands, said in part in a statement, “Congressman D’Esposito urges the state government to provide further funding for NUMC so the hospital can continue serving its large and diverse patient population.”
Nassau County’s spokesperson said in part that he is hopeful the state will give NUMC more funding to keep it viable and that Nassau County Executive Blakeman has made clear that NUMC is an important healthcare facility that should remain open.
News 12 also reached out to the governor’s office about the audit, but did not hear back.
