May 25, 2004

Every day the people who work in hospitals throughout Arkansas and the rest of America face enormous challenges while delivering lifesaving miracles.

At every opportunity, we should share with the public and with our lawmakers the latest news about services hospitals provide and the challenges they face to keep their promise of curing, caring, and compassion. Here are but a few of them:

• More than 10,000 babies are born every day in hospitals.
• Over 300,000 people are treated every day in emergency departments.
• Over 90,000 patients are admitted every day for inpatient care.
• More than 1.5 million people visit hospitals every day for outpatient services.
• Advances in medicine have provided enormous benefit to society. Since 1980, healthcare spending has increased by $2,200 per person, but the benefits have far outweighed the cost: (a) overall, mortality rates have declined by 16%; (b) heart attack deaths are down 50%; (c) deaths from strokes have declined by 33%; and (d) disability rates in the over-65 population are down by 25%.
• Hospitals are the safety net for America 's 44 million uninsured. Last year, hospitals provided $22 billion worth of uncompensated care. The share for Arkansas ' hospitals was $675 million.
• Regulatory burdens take caregivers away from the bedside. Every hour of emergency room care requires one hour of paperwork; every hour of surgery and inpatient care requires 36 minutes.
• Nearly 50% of all hospital emergency departments are at or over capacity.
• By 2020, demand for registered nurses will exceed the supply by 800,000.
• Medicare inpatient payment updates for hospitals have failed to keep pace with inflation for 14 of the last 17 years. Similar shortfalls for Medicaid also contribute to hospitals' financial stress.
• A medical liability crisis is jeopardizing access to care. Many of America 's hospitals have seen the cost of professional liability insurance increase by more than 50% over the past two years.
• In addition to improving the health of patients, hospitals are also major economic engines in the communities they serve. They are the second largest employer in the private sector, employing nearly five million people nationally. In Arkansas , about 48,000 people work in hospitals. Hospitals support one of every nine jobs in the United States . When hospitals are not adequately reimbursed for their services, both patient care and the community's economic health are at great risk. 

It is a simple fact that Americans depend on hospitals to be there when they need them — 24 hours a day, 365 days a year — to respond swiftly to emergencies, to welcome new life into the world, to help patients cope with acute and chronic illness, and to care for those who have nowhere else to turn. 

Our society must never take hospitals and the services they provide for granted. It is up to all of us to see that they are adequately financed so that our healthcare future remains secure.