The Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital has been having serious issues getting patients to come there to seek medical attention since the death of Thomas Eric Duncan who had Ebola. The hospital has 900 beds but has only been able to fill around 300. Thomas Eric Duncan died there last week and also infected the two nurses who were caring for him before his death. People have shunned the hospital and refuse to go there for any medical reasons. This has caused major economic issues for the hospital. Before the Ebola crisis, the hospital had accounted for 17% of the $3.5 billion in annual revenue for its parent company, Texas Health Systems. Although the hospital is taking a large finical hit, the Texas Health System has no intention on closing it down. The Ebola virus has affected the United States physically, mentally, and now finically.
http://money.cnn.com/2014/10/17/news/companies/ebola-hospital/index.html?iid=SF_E_River
It's interesting to see how much confidence has been lost in the hospital since the ebola case. Luckily for the hospital they are apart of a larger company so they can be supported is the economic down turn by them. Hopefully the hospital can bounce back in the near future, otherwise the future of the hospital may be at risk and all of those jobs. Most importantly this Ebola crisis needs to end so people can start building confidence in the hospital again.
ReplyDeleteLoss of confidence ( in this case out of fear) accounts for a major reason the Ebola crises has had such a massive impact on society in general. 17% is a very large chunk for a corporation and if for example this trend continues into other areas of the country it could lead to a much larger impact financially. Going off from the comment above I agree that the crisis needs to be contained so that people regain their confidence in their healthcare providers.
ReplyDeleteThis sort of reaction by the public is anything but permanent, as soon as the media cools off covering Ebola, things should return to almost normal for the hospital
ReplyDeleteI think that this sort of reaction will continue until the ebola crisis is solved. This will not only happen at this specific hospital, but at any hospital that has ebola patients. This could not fair well for the healthcare industry as a whole if it becomes bad enough. I believe that if the ebola crisis does not get under control soon enough the financial problem will become much worse.
ReplyDeleteIt will be interesting to see in the near future if any other hospitals face this same sort of dilemma. Realistically though, if this continues, the Texas Health Systems will have to come up with some sort of campaign to show that the hospital is still top notch in order to have patients return back there if the Ebola crisis continues. Ultimately I feel the ideal cure for this will be for the epidemic to decline, and once that happens, people will return on their own terms.
ReplyDeleteI feel like, depending on how treatment here goes, the loss of confidence can be easily reversed. Post-crisis, saying that your institution remained open in an attempt to help whoever needed it still is brilliant marketing (ethical reasons aside). This move could prove to have long-term benefits.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing how big an effect a virus like ebola can have on an economy even if it just infected one person. I completely understand it because I don't want to go to a hospital that had the virus in it. But people should have some confidence on how this hospital cares for viruses and patients. But it will be interesting if this hospital goes out of business and how other hospitals will handle a patient with ebola if it ever comes to the US.
ReplyDelete