“Bleeding Dollars”: At PeaceHealth, a new hospital, the recession and patients who can’t pay combine to create a big financial burden

From the Register-Guard:

In a 24-hour period on a recent Friday, 212 patients were treated at Sacred Heart Medical Center’s emergency rooms at University District in the heart of Eugene and at RiverBend in Springfield.

Among them were a patient experiencing a mental health crisis who was admitted to the University District’s Johnson Unit, a woman in the throes of a difficult labor who was transferred from Douglas County to RiverBend, and a trauma victim rushed to RiverBend during the night shift.

Of those 212 patients, about 60 — more than a quarter — will receive medical services but will be unable or unwilling to pay the bill, according to officials with PeaceHealth, the nonprofit parent of the Sacred Heart Medical Centers here and of seven other hospitals in three states.