“Health care has always been viewed as recession-proof, but it’s not pandemic-proof,” said Dr David Blumenthal, president of the Commonwealth Fund, a health research organisation. In a typical year, more than a million patients travel to the system’s 21 hospitals from all 50 states and 140 countries. Kalispell treated a small number of coronavirus patients, including 37 who tested positive and four admitted to the hospital. Fitzgerald expects that will mean a surge in the uninsured, who already account for 12% of the hospital’s patients. The hospital system has treated 1,200 coronavirus patients and executives do not yet know whether it will break even on that care.

Source: bd News24 May 15, 2020 15:00 UTC