Profit margins way up for Denver hospitals

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Profit margins way up for Denver hospitals

Amy Fletcher Denver Business Journal

Denver-area hospitals nearly doubled their profit margins in 2000, according to a recently released report from the Colorado Hospital Association.

And while hospitals are still tallying up last year's results, Denver facilities were profitable in 2001.

After posting a 4.1 percent margin in 1999, Denver-area hospitals yielded an 8 percent profit margin in 2000, the most recent year for which data is available. National experts say hospitals need a 6 percent margin to maintain and update facilities, purchase new technology, provide charity care and new services and reduce debt....

.. But like every hospital in Denver, labor expenses continue to mount at Centura as it relies on such contract workers as traveling nurses to fill gaps. Some traveling nurses, for example, cost hospitals nearly twice as much as staff nurses.

Contract workers now comprise 10 percent of Centura's salary costs, up from 5 percent a year earlier. "It's really a problem for us," Picerno said, "because it's a very expensive cost of labor." ....

Full story:

http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2002/01/14/story4.html?jst=s_cn_hl

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Interesting how they c/o contract labor and not mention of what the CEO makes.... I bet I could live like royalty on the bonus alone!

:eek:

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Specializes in NICU.

So, according to this article, which states that the travel nurses cost almost twice as much as one staff nurse, they could hire THREE staff nurses permanently for every two travel nurses they dump? Hmm...gotta love the logic that goes into decisions like that. Better yet, they could dump the travelers and hire only TWO staff nurses, but give them higher pay or incentives.

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Well, as an agency nurse, I do make double the salary of staff nurses. We are not going away anytime soon either.

I still would prefer the salary of the CEO though.

What? No one is balking about the management pay scales?

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Specializes in NICU.

Please don't misunderstand me! I don't know what we would do without our agency nurses- they are part of our team (we get a couple of regulars on our units) and they are amazing, flexible nurses who have taught me a lot. My only point was that, considering all the news coverage of the nursing shortage, there *are* ways to improve staff ratios in many hospitals. Now don't get me started on the salaries of our administration! I am fully convinced that one of our higher-up's exists soley to write sad notices about pumpkin carving contests! :>P

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Oh yes... I agree. I did not think that you were offending. I came home after working 12+ and made that grumpy comment. YOu picked up on my cranky tired side.

I truly believe, if management would only pay nurses what they were worth, made working conditions regularly pleasant, and provided an atmosphere of pride in nursing that nurses would be more willing to work and the "nursing shortage" would ease up in many areas.

To me, an article that speaks of record profits and extreme wages of agency nurses is insulting. I take it personally. Yes agency staff makes more but so do a lot of support people in health care; I am referring to upper managers and a CEO's 6 digit figured salaries and huges bonuses based on meeting "indexes".

Working in the Denver area myself, I am confident that agency is here to stay; so are the record salaries of managers and CEO's who underpay and under-value nurses in general.

B.

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I have to also share a story a fellow colleague shared with me yesterday. Her roommate, who also works at the facility I worked at yesteday, is a new grad. RN with her first year assignment. "They are forcing this new nurse to work ALL the up coming holidays; Thanksgiving, Christmas, Christmas EVE, New Years Eve and New Years Day; all of this and hearing the new nurses beg to be allowed some time off so she can fly home to see her family.

I am sorry but that is SO wrong.. or am I just SO out of the loop of reality and am spoiled by agency nursing where I can choose my own schedule? I don't think so...

Smart managers.. go ahead and burn out your regular staff.. tisk tisk....

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