Lower Bucks Hospital cited cuts in government medical spending as one of the reasons for its deficit.
Hospital spokesman Bob Harris said that "1989 was a pretty rough year for a lot of hospitals; government funding disappeared for most of our patients. A lot of things we had been paid for in fiscal year 1988 were not paid for in 1989."
He said about 15 percent of the hospital's patients receive medical assistance from the state.
"You lose money on medical assistance," Harris said.
The hospital is in the process of a financial turnaround and is on track to make a profit of about $250,000 in fiscal year 1991, Harris said. The fiscal year runs from July to June. Two other hospitals, Delaware Valley Medical Center and Warminster General Hospital, both ended up with deficits, more than $3.4 million and $550,987 respectively. The figures represent money lost after a hospital's total expenses are subtracted from total revenues, including operating and non-operating revenues such as investments and gifts.
At Delaware Valley Medical Center, officials said they were strapped with a debt mainly because many of their patients are covered by medical insurance that often does not pay the full price of what it costs the hospital to provide care.
Some of these include coverage by Medicare, some HMOs and people receiving medical assistance from the state, said Carl Brown, executive director of the 210-bed hospital in Langhorne.
"You're selling something at a price that costs you more than what you're being paid," Brown said. "It's a shortfall because the federal and state programs aren't doing their fair share. They're not paying hospitals what it costs to provide care."
Although it shows a loss for 1989, Brown said the hospital planned to break even in 1992.
Saint Mary Hospital in Langhorne showed the biggest "excess of revenues over expenses," more than $5.2 million.
