DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa hospitals will lose an estimated $1.2 billion by the end of this month because of COVID-19. As a result, hospitals are having to make massive budget cuts to get by.
MercyOne Medical Center in Des Moines says the pandemic has lost them quite a bit of money. They say the federal aid they've received is appreciated, but it only covers about half of their losses.
"While we continue to provide a safe environment for all who seek care, we are also adapting our services and operations model to preserve our Mission for the future, which includes the evaluation of staffing volumes," MercyOne said in an emailed statement to Local 5.
UnityPoint says they made some adjustments in April to help combat this, temporarily curring hours for certain types of personnel such as administrative support, and cut executive pay by 15 percent.
They also say they will be providing resources to affected team members, including continuation of benefits and financial assistance resources where applicable.
Meanwhile, Broadlawns Medical Center hasn't eliminated any staff members because of the virus, but instead redeployed people who were in areas of lower priority to help with the pandemic. They're currently returning to they way they operated pre-COVID, and don't plan to make any future staff cuts.