Cleveland's MetroHealth System facing financial crisis

MetroHealth Medical Center, the county-owned hospital that provides services for many of Cleveland’s poor, reported that its finances improved in the second quarter of this year, finishing about $500,000 in the black for the quarter (Source: “MetroHealth finances better in second quarter but investment income causes loss,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, July 30, 2008).

However, if investment losses are included, the system actually lost about $800,000 during the quarter. Following losses of nearly $8 million in the first quarter of the year, though, even those second quarter figures may be reason for slight optimism.

Nearly half of its inpatient discharges use Medicaid and almost 40 percent of its emergency room patients are uninsured, making MetroHealth System the cornerstone of the health care safety net in Cleveland. As the system struggles to remain financially solvent, Cleveland.com, the Web site for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, has launched a comprehensive multimedia site, called  "A Community Prescription: Healing MetroHealth Medical Center and Northeast Ohio's medical safety net," which chronicles efforts to improve and reform MetroHealth.