I’ve written about hospital closures, shrinking hospitals, and hospitals that became holes in the ground. I’ve even written an entire book on The Impending Death of Hospitals.
But before today, I’ve never written about a hospital that turned to crowdfunding to stay afloat.
According to a story on Medpage Today (see https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/features/106291), 16-bed critical access hospital Bucktail Medical Center in Renovo, Pennsylvania is attempting to raise $1.5 million via GoFundMe to keep the lights on.
It’s losing $150,000 each month. The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services wants repayment of $255,467 for care delivered four years ago. And, the hospital reports that a $381,941.00 Employee Retention Credit (ERC) payment is delayed indefinitely.
Bucktail has been in business since 1909. It’s the sole hospital, and sole operator of an ambulance service, in the county. It also operates a nursing home.
See it here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/your-community-your-hospital-your-choice-help)
The hospital business is dying, one facility at a time.
The story is another breadcrumb on the trail of The Impending Death of Hospitals. For physicians, it leads to the conclusion that:
1. There is no longer safety in hospital employment.
2. That contracted medical groups, especially hospital-based groups such as anesthesiologists and radiologists, can’t be dependent upon any single hospital or single hospital system relationship.
3. That there is huge opportunity in alternatives to hospitals, such as ASCs and MOCs™, physician-owned Massive Outpatient Clinics™.
