Metro Government may forgive a $32 million loan to General Hospital. Mayor Karl Dean has proposed the idea to lessen the impact of a 10% cut to the city’s safety net hospital.
The loan was extended by the Metro Council in past years to help the hospital close its books. Its forgiveness will save Metro General nearly 700-thousand dollars in annual interest payments. At large Councilman Jerry Maynard says the Hospital Authority will still have to cut services to meet the overall $4.7 million budget reduction.
“Yeah, I guess you could say it’s a positive. But the thing is whether we’re going to be committed as a city to providing health care to our citizens, regardless of their ability to pay.”
To manage a 10% budget cut for next year, Hospital CEO Reginald Coopwood has said the organization must shed its outpatient cardiology and oncology units. Metro finance officials say the hospital should be able to maintain those patient services even with funding cuts.
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