By Nick Buglione
Higher expenses associated with overtime and utilities have the corporation - which runs Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow, the A. Holly Patterson nursing home in Uniondale and seven community clinics - on course to lose more than it expected, somewhere between $9 million and $14 million.
Having lost millions of dollars each year since its creation in 1999, the corporation hoped to cut its 2004 losses in half and break even by 2005, a goal that now seems in doubt.
Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi, who in his re-election campaign touted the financial turnaround at NHCC as one of his major accomplishments, still maintains that vast improvements have been made. "I am confident the Nassau University Medical Center will continue its turnaround," Suozzi said in a published report. "It is no longer on life support."
Others have said that the NHCC's losses are relatively small in the scheme of its $469 million budget, and that its money troubles aren't as considerable when compared with other public hospitals in the state. Officials worry, however, that if the hospital continues to operate under significant deficits, it could run out of cash, as Nassau County Comptroller Howard Weitzman predicted it would in 2004, until the county worked out a $60 million bailout plan.
If the NHCC were to go under, the county would ultimately be responsible for the debt service payments on the $256 million in bonds issued to finance its creation.
Comments about this story? NBuglione@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 236.
