CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The gap between what it cost Charleston Area Medical Center to treat COVID-19 patients in 2020 and what it received in federal CARES Act funding was $34 million, CAMC President and CEO Dave Ramsey said during a phone call with reporters Wednesday.
Ramsey and a handful of other hospital leaders from the across the country were part of an event organized by the American Hospital Association (AHA).
Ramsey said the financial implications from the pandemic will be “disastrous” long-term for hospitals like CAMC.
“We are not receiving adequate reimbursement for COVID expenses,” Ramsey said. “Much of these expenses are outside the actual care of the patients.”
Specifically, Ramsey said CAMC documented $108 million of expenses in 2020 directly related to COVID patients and the hospital received $74 million in CARES Act funds.
The hospital paid high prices for personnel, PPE, drugs and other items.
Ramsey said the financial losses are continuing not so much because of high COVID patient counts, CAMC had only 29 COVID patients Wednesday, but because other patients have been hesitant to return to the hospital for outpatient procedures and other services.
“They’re concerned that COVID may still linger. The hospital lost $5 million in January and we are tracking to lose money in February as well,” Ramsey said.
The payer-mix at CAMC, long talked about by Ramsey and others, has reared its head again during the pandemic. Approximately 83% of CAMC’s patients are covered by Medicare or Medicaid and pay below the cost of service. Ramsey said that becomes an even more significant issue because COVID patients are hospitalized longer than the average patient.
“The resources that are being consumed by the COVID patient who is typically here for a week or more is significant,” he said.
Ramsey and other hospital leaders on Wednesday’s call expressed concern about nurses leaving the profession because of the ongoing pandemic. Ramsey said he’s seen reports that more than 500,000 nationwide have decided to do something else.
“This is not what they signed up for,” Ramsey said.
The AHA is hopeful Congress will include additional funding for hospitals through the Provider Relief Fund in the latest stimulus package that’s under discussion on Capitol Hill. AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack said currently neither the Biden plan nor the U.S. House bill includes additional money for the fund but he hasn’t given up.
“This is a long road. We still think we are in the game,” Pollack said.
Pollack said nationwide 30% of hospitals are experiencing negative margins while another 30% are barely breaking even.