Hospitals all over the country had bad last quarter. 50% are operating at a loss. This obviously can't go on indefinately. Shriner's budgetary crisis is another symptom of a sick healthcare system that will need therapy.
50% of US Hospitals Operating at a Loss GREENVILLE, S.C. — Shriners hospitals, which have provided free care since before the Great Depression, are considering closing a quarter of their facilities as donations stagnate, costs increase and the charity's endowment shrivels.
The group's director says it's the only viable option.
Officials at the Florida-based organization say it is siphoning $1 million a day from its endowment to balance the budget for 22 hospitals in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Meanwhile, they say, that fund has fallen to $5 billion from $8 billion in less than a year because of the sputtering stock market and a charitable giving slump that has hurt philanthropies nationwide. The fund has been declining since 2001. The group will vote this summer on the closures.
Closing these hospitals is the only viable option, Semb said. While members will also consider keeping all 22 facilities open — or a nationwide 30% budget cut — Semb contends doing either would be a death knell to the organization. He said to continue functioning as they do now with all the hospitals open, Shriners would have to grow the endowment to about $12 billion by 2014 — unlikely, given the economy and nationwide trend toward less large-sum charitable giving.
TShriners may be forced 'out of the hospital business' within 5 years
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