North Carolina’s largest hospital systems made billions of dollars in profits during the pandemic, while simultaneously taking $1.5 billion in taxpayer-funded COVID-19 relief funds, according to a report released Wednesday by the state treasurer’s office.
The report, titled, “North Carolina Hospital Systems Profit During COVID” was published by State Treasurer Dale Folwell who called on the hospital systems to “use their profits to lower costs for patients” or “return unnecessary, taxpayer-funded relief dollars.”
According to the report, Atrium Health, Cone Health, Duke Health, Novant Health, UNC Health, Vidant Health, and WakeMed made a combined $5.2 billion in net profits in 2021 and recorded $7.1 billion in growth in cash and financial investments from 2019 to 2021.
Six of those hospital systems enjoyed higher net profits than in the years before the pandemic, the report states.
That growth came as the seven hospital systems reportedly took $1.5 billion in taxpayer-funded COVID relief meant to help support hospitals who were struggling through the pandemic, as well as another $1.6 billion in Medicare Accelerated and Advance Payments from 2020–2021.
“These systems boasted huge reserves, but they still took the bulk of the relief funds meant for struggling hospitals – and then failed to dedicate more than a fraction of their windfall to increasing charity care for their suffering patients,” Folwell said in a press release unveiling the report.
…
The report further found that despite their reported profits, the hospital systems shared little of it with disadvantaged patients, noting that a third of North Carolina hospitals spent less on charity care in 2020 during the peak of the pandemic.
Anything under the big top of government fiat currency gets destroyed. The snout of the leviathan is everywhere, air,water,food you name it they control it, all to our demise
Thieves
stop feeding the animals.
Who is going to prison for this, let’s begin with cooper pedophile marxist filth dirt bag.
Any hospital that puts profit above patients is a horrible place to try to obtain care. They would constantly be weighing which tests make financial sense, procedures too. And you the lowly, sick patient would be treated like you are in a 3rd World Country.
Duke has been in that type of business for many many years. Not sure when it changed but thirty years ago, it had started.
Don’t let anyone tell you how good anything is. People make snap judgements like look they keep the yards so nice, they can’t be all bad right? The public bathrooms are clean. Pray tell what that has to do with adequate much less optimal healthcare.