QUESTION
How will Beth Israel’s impending closure impact Bellevue Hospital’s capacity and budget?
1:10:16
·
3 min
Mitch Katz explains that Bellevue Hospital budgets based on patient volume, with more patients usually bringing more revenue. However, he is concerned about the high capital costs of renovating Bellevue.
- Bellevue budgets for volume, meaning revenue increases with more patients, especially with efficient insurance billing.
- Fixed and variable costs factor into Bellevue’s ability to accommodate more patients without significantly impacting operating costs.
- Significant concerns exist about the capital cost of renovating Bellevue due to its age, with renovations potentially costing $40-50 million.
- Additional doctors and nurses will be needed for increased capacity but Katz is not concerned about operating costs in this context.
- The city does not regulate hospital closures, but Katz emphasizes preparedness for potential increases in patient volume at Bellevue.
Carlina Rivera
1:10:16
Are you thinking of opening up space in Bellevue to accommodate more patients because of Beth Israel?
1:10:21
And they're in pending closure even though they have not been approved yet despite their elimination of services slowly.
1:10:30
How does that impact Bellevue's actual budget?
1:10:33
And do you have estimates on expense for taking on additional beds and capacity?
Mitch Katz
1:10:38
Right.
1:10:39
So I'm trying to
Carlina Rivera
1:10:39
talk and have they talked to you, but there's room how they talk to you.
Mitch Katz
1:10:42
Yes.
1:10:42
So don't try to do it all backwards.
Mercedes Narcisse
1:10:44
You think you said
Mitch Katz
1:10:44
So we the way we budget does we budget for volume?
1:10:49
So if a hospital has more patients, we need to provide more dollars.
1:10:54
And 4 definitely because we've gotten good at billing insurance companies, generally more doll more patients come with more dollars, especially if you're not opening any more bricks and mortar.
1:11:07
So may your concept of all hospital finances, the difference between a fixed cost and a variable cost.
1:11:16
Bellevue has a fixed cost.
1:11:17
It costs a certain amount to keep the lights on, keep the utilities, keep the administration to mop the floor.
1:11:26
If I have more patients, then I provide only the variable costs.
1:11:31
Additional doctors, additional nurses, additional social workers.
1:11:35
Generally, we can break even if I only have to have incremental costs.
1:11:41
So I'm not concerned about so much with any of the hospitals where I have physical room to grow.
1:11:49
I'm not concerned about the operating costs.
1:11:52
I am very concerned capital cost for Bellevue because it's such an old building.
1:11:57
It's extremely expensive.
1:11:59
So it's because it's so large, there is still room that's usable, but it's very expensive to rehabilitate.
1:12:09
On the order of, you know, a award opening on in Bellevue, depending on which one could easily cost $40,000,000 or $50,000,000.
1:12:19
To get it be again, because it's at a was built at a standard way different than what modern health care is requiring.
1:12:28
So, you know, we are never in favor of hospital club.
1:12:32
CLOSURES.
1:12:33
RIGHT?
1:12:34
WE DON'T REGULATE.
1:12:35
THE CITY DOESN'T REGULATE HOSPITAL CLOSURES, SUSTATE ISSUE.
1:12:41
BUT I FEEL LIKE MY JAMA is to make sure that none of my hospitals are ever overrun, which means being prepared for things that might happen.
1:12:52
I think that if Bellevue has more patients, we they will get more dollars and that will help us.
1:12:59
But I have to worry about how quickly the renovations can occur, how quickly I can staff up.
1:13:07
And these are all challenging issues.
1:13:10
One coming on on the previous recipients, and doctors cannot earn overtime.
1:13:15
Not literal over time, their FMLA exempt.
1:13:19
So doctors get sessional rates, which means we determine what is the rate by which we pay for an additional 8 hours in the hospital or additional 8 hours of phone call is all set up according to specialty and what type of call you get.
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