Update: McCain Selects Gov. Sarah Palin as Running Mate

Just want to say I love you guys today, even the crazy lefties like saden and dmek. Because you are Redskin fans, and today is Redskin day!

I hate you guys....J/K.

Martinis and arugula salad on me. :grouphug:

It's just hard for me to believe a hospital would be satisfied breaking even, and keep their doors open in that condition -- especially in this environment of rising costs.

You're still not getting it. Let me try it differently:

Hospitals aren't happy breaking even. They want a profit at all times. But the fact is it's impossible for many of them, so they move heaven and earth just to try to break even (some succeed, some fail).

But are you sure you understand what breaking even means? Breaking even means you cover all your costs and you have nothing left over. That means you manage to pay the ever rising malpractice premiums, you manage to pay for all the drugs and supplies which go higher and higher, you manage to pay all your employees and docs, and you bring in just enough revenue to cover all of this. Breaking even means you kept your operation running, cared for all your patients and gave them a good medical experience, and didn't have to lay anybody off. It's a very good thing (relatively speaking) for a hospital to break even these days.

You're still not getting it. Let me try it differently:

Hospitals aren't happy breaking even. They want a profit at all times. But the fact is it's impossible for many of them, so they move heaven and earth just to try to break even (some succeed, some fail).

If they can't make a profit they would close. Why on earth would a business stay open if it's "impossible" to make a profit?

If they can't make a profit they would close. Why on earth would a business stay open if it's "impossible" to make a profit?

Many are indeed closing for that exact reason. In Philadelphia, we recently lost Medical College of Pennsylvania, Parkview Medical Center, and Temple University Children's Medical Center just to name a few.

Others that aren't actually closing are shedding programs that lose money, most notably OB/GYN. There are now only 2 hospitals in North Philly that deliver babies. Five years ago, there were 11.

The hospitals still standing are the ones that either manage to break even (or better) or continue to believe that they can break even with some programmatic changes and key strategic investments (which is what I do).

I feel all the love in the air.

Now for some really great humor:

J8uGenNjOAI

haha, nice Saden.

haha, nice Saden.

Humor First!

Much appreciated Saden.

Hypocrisy at it's best... or worst depending on how you look at it.. I'm not sure whether to laugh or bash my head against a wall. I'll probably do both.