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General Assistance Medical Care Weekly Report
September 18, 2009
A public forum next week1 will examine the impact of budget cuts on Washington County including the elimination of GAMC. Regions Hospital is a key community asset for the east metro because it provides services not offered by other hospitals such as Level I trauma services that are available for adults and children 24/7, a nationally recognized burn center and the largest provider of inpatient behavioral healthcare in the east metro. As a result of the elimination of GAMC, Regions is considering cuts to programs and services that will impact everyone in our community.
GAMC care for the week of August 17, 2009
Total GAMC patient visits 2
Emergency Room
Inpatient
Same Day Surgery
Outpatient 3
Patients with mental health conditions
Reimbursement that will be lost
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218
75
25
5
113
40
$283,405
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Since funding was cut (May)
3,357
$4.5 million
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Story of the week: Jenny, age 22 4
Minnesota has one of the lowest rates of uninsurance in the nation, but of those who do not have health insurance, an estimated one in three are young people ages 19-29.5 Jenny is one of them. She went to Regions Hospital emergency room because she had severe pain in her side. Doctors diagnosed kidney stones. Some kidney stones can be treated with pain medication or less invasive treatment, but Jenny's case was serious enough for doctors to recommend surgery. However, she was very worried about paying the bill because she did not have any health insurance. A financial counselor at Regions helped her apply for GAMC. Surgery was scheduled within the month. She was very relieved when she learned that GAMC would cover her hospital bills which turned out to be more than $25,000.
1River Valley Action Forum, Sept. 24 7 -9 p.m.
Boutwells Landing Care Center
13575 58th St. N. Oak Park Heights, MN
2 Not patient's real name or age
3 Outpatient visits include radiology, chemotherapy, chemical dependency, mental health
and other diagnostic visits.
4 Enrolled in GAMC or in process of enrolling
5Source: The Commonwealth Fund April 2009
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