"The worldwide financial crisis and credit crunch will not spare the healthcare and medical communities, and they should brace for some major upheavals, warn economists, executives, and physicians.The less sick care available, the less complications possible and the more people have to practice preventive care.
Among those potential changes is likely to be a shake-up in the physician workforce as older physicians put off retirement while young would-be doctors meet resistance in securing medical school loans, according to a series of interviews by MedPage Today on the predicted fallout from the sharp economic downturn.
At the same time, medical group practices will have trouble making payroll or updating technology. And hospitals will be forced to change their "bigger is better" mindset and delay massive construction projects...
The market plummet was only part of the problem. In some cases, conditions leading up to the crash had caused new construction to be put on hold mid-project.
Part of what makes the hospital loan environment particularly shaky is that many institutions refinance a portion of their loans weekly, called 'variable rate debt,' so they are not locked in to a particular date's rate. But now, those hospitals looking to reset their rates will not find favorable rates, possibly for quite some time.
Kirkpatrick said he is hearing reports from hospitals in his state that planned construction projects with loans at low financing rates, but now are confronted with rates that are eight times higher than what they planned."
What luck!
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