Post-9/11 vigilance has placed wide-ranging burdens on New York’s hospitals, from adding guards to building germ decontamination units — more than $200 million in expenses so far, and a similar amount is expected this year, according to a new report by a hospital lobbying group. The hospitals, already in poor financial trim, are bearing nearly all the costs themselves, even as the state and federal governments are cutting back their financial support. Leaders of the lobbying group, the Greater New York Hospital Association, said that in producing the report, they were, in part, playing to audiences in Albany and Washington and, in particular, hoping to influence what is taking shape as a bitter fight over the state budget. “While the state and federal governments have been talking about preparedness a lot, they’ve been talking about it, but they haven’t been willing to pay for it,” said Kenneth E. Raske, the group’s president. “They’re emphasizing homeland security, but they’re undermining the first line of defense, the hospitals, and that’s a contradiction we want to bring to people’s attention.” Full Story
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