The entrance to the Penn State Hershey Medical Center. April 1, 2020.
Tim Lambert / WITF
Pa. hospitals get hundreds of millions in loans to deal with coronavirus
By David Wenner/PennLive
Tim Lambert / WITF
The entrance to the Penn State Hershey Medical Center. April 1, 2020.
What you should knowWith our coronavirus coverage, our goal is to equip you with the information you need. Rather than chase every update, we’ll try to keep things in context and focus on helping you make decisions. See all of our stories here.
» Coronavirus facts & FAQ
» Day-by-day look at coronavirus disease cases in Pa.
» It’s time to get serious about social distancing. Here’s how.
Pennsylvania has approved loans totaling $324 million to help hospitals pay the costs of ramping up to care for COVID-19 patients.
A big chunk, $100,000, will go to Geisinger Health and be spread over seven Geisinger hospitals, including Geisinger Holy Spirit in Cumberland County, according to the state Department of Community and Economic Development, which approved the loans.
Other recipients of large loans include the University of Pennsylvania, which will receive $50 million to help six hospitals, including Lancaster General.
Geisinger spokesman Joseph Sender said the money “will help support critical services during these uncertain times until the loan is repaid in full plus interest within the state’s guidelines.”
Hospitals in Pennsylvania and across the country say the coronavirus is dealing them a devastating financial blow, resulting from buying equipment and supplies in preparation for a surge in COVID-19 patients, and bans on elective surgeries imposed to conserve beds and supplies.
The elective surgeries are a major source of revenue, although many hospitals have begun to resume them. Health systems have also seen major drops in emergency room volume and visits to stand-alone medical practices. They attribute it to people being afraid of catching COVID-19.
“As Pennsylvania continues to practice social distancing, we have successfully flattened the curve, but we know that our fight against COVID-19 is far from over,” Gov. Tom Wolf said in a news release. “This funding will allow our hospitals to hold steady in that fight with the peace of mind that they have access to the resources they need to provide critical care to their communities.”
Pennsylvania created the Hospital Emergency Loan Program in early April, making available a total of $450 million. The loans have a half-percent interest rate. It’s expected the hospitals will repay the loans with money from the federal CARES Act.
The program originally capped loans at $10 million per hospital. However, the program allows larger loans based on availability of money and circumstances of hospitals, said Casey Smith of the Department of Community and Economic Development.
PennLive and The Patriot-News are partners with PA Post.
