AGENCY TESTIMONY
Effect of hospital closures during the COVID-19 pandemic
0:29:48
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44 sec
Dr. Morse highlights the specific impact of hospital closures during the COVID-19 pandemic, emphasizing how these closures exacerbated existing healthcare inequities and led to preventable deaths.
- References research on COVID-19 hospitalizations and inequities conducted by the Health Department
- Explains that hospital closures contributed to a surge in patient load during the first wave of the pandemic
- Notes that this surge was not adequately spread across safety net and non-safety net hospitals
- Emphasizes that this imbalance led to preventable deaths across the city
- Describes safety net closures as part of a vicious cycle, driven by the healthcare industry's demand for maximum profits and a lack of accountability for large public subsidies
Dr. Michelle Morse
0:29:48
As we have documented in our research on COVID 19 hospitalizations and inequities, These closures contributed to a surge in patient load during the first wave of the COVID pandemic that was not adequately spread across safety net and non safety net hospitals and led to preventable deaths across the city.
0:30:06
Emergency department overcrowding may be made worse with the closure of a nearby hospital.
0:30:12
Safety net closures are part of a vicious cycle.
0:30:15
Demand by the healthcare industry for maximum profits in all areas of health care and a lack of accountability when large public subsidies are given in the form of tax exemptions to nonprofit hospitals can pose threats to safety and hospital viability and the patients and families they serve.
