Becker's Hospital Review

32 CFO / FINANCE Texas health system to build 3 hospitals in $953M expansion By Marissa Plescia A ustin, Texas-based St. David's HealthCare will build two new acute care hospitals and a behavioral health hospital and expand services at others through a $953 million investment. e investment will be paid for by St. David's operations and will not take on any debt, the health system said in a news release shared with Becker's. "While the COVID-19 pandemic certainly compounded the challenges our region is fac- ing, there was already a need for more physical capacity in our existing hospitals to care for patients, as well as additional services in our community, including behavioral health services," said David Huffstutler, president and CEO of St. David's. "And, as the popula- tion growth in Central Texas continues to expand into outlying areas, this has created the need for us to establish additional sites of care in those areas." e plans include: • A $143 million full-service acute care hospital in Leander, Texas • A $185 million full-service acute care hospital in the Kyle, Texas, area • A $34 million 80-bed behavioral health hospital in Austin • A $146 million renovation and expansion at St. David's North Austin Medical Center • A $249 million renovation and expansion at St. David's South Austin Medical Center • A $53 million expansion at St. David's Round Rock (Texas) Medical Center • A $21 million expansion at Heart Hospital of Austin • A $43 million renovation and expansion at Austin-based St. David's Medical Center • An $80 million construction project for future capacity at area hospitals n Patients are challenging hospital prices via lawsuits By Alia Paavola P atients across the U.S. are challenging hospitals' high prices for care, several lawsuits have highlighted. For example, patient George Cansler proposed a class-action lawsuit against Greenville, N.C.-based Vidant Health, alleging that the 1,477-bed system overbilled patients hundreds of thousands of dollars for common procedures like CT scans. The lawsuit also alleges that Vidant engaged in deceptive billing and debt collection practices to "extract undisclosed and unreasonably high prices from patients" and are able to charge the high prices because Vidant is the monopoly hospital system for much of eastern North Carolina. Additionally, in Connecticut, a group of patients is suing Hartford Health- Care, alleging that the large hospital system has amassed a monopoly of inpatient hospitals and abuses its market power to charge higher prices to insurers, employers and patients. In particular, the plaintiffs allege that the prices at Hartford HealthCare's facilities are routinely more than 20 percent higher than the nearest competitor and that prices for high-volume proce- dures are hundreds of dollars more than at nearby hospitals. n Agency staff cost New Jersey hospitals $670M in 2021 By Kelly Gooch N ew Jersey hospitals more than tripled their 2020 spending on agency and travel staff last year, estimating they spent $670 million, according to a Feb. 25 survey from the New Jersey Hospital Association. The association surveyed 70 percent of the state's hospitals in early February to examine their workforce challeng- es, among them rising staff vacancies and employment costs amid a tight labor market. Five more survey findings: 1. The vacancy rate for registered nurses — the number of vacant positions relative to the total number of employees — climbed from 8.2 percent in 2020 to 13.4 percent last year, a 64 percent increase. 2. For nurse extenders such as certified nurse aides, the vacancy rate increased from 12.4 percent in 2020 to 16.9 percent last year, a 37 percent increase. 3. Hospitals increased their reliance on agency RNs by 66 percent, from 3.6 per- cent in 2020 to 6 percent last year. 4. Hospitals increased their reliance on agency nurse extenders by 68 percent, from 2.9 percent in 2020 to 4.9 percent last year. 5. Hospitals spent about $499 million for overtime in 2020 and are projected to have spent about $592 million in 2021. The survey results are indicative of the national trend of hospitals facing staffing shortages and rising labor costs as they vie for talent. It's a concern the American Hospital Association has urged Congress to address, calling workforce challenges facing hospitals a national emergency. The New Jersey Hospital Association suggested such long-term strategies as opening more educational opportunities for students interested in healthcare and boosting healthcare faculty to address the workforce challenges. n

• Cover