As the number of Minnesota deaths from COVID-19 grew to 24 on Saturday, the pandemic's financial shock became clearer for hospitals as one of the state's largest health systems asked some doctors to consider going on furlough.
Fairview Health Services said it has asked doctors, nurse practitioners and physician assistants in certain primary care clinics to volunteer to take a week of unpaid leave, starting as early as Monday.
The request is being made of caregivers in clinics that are seeing a reduced volume of patients, Fairview said, adding in a statement that "reductions are not being made on the front lines of COVID patient care."
"We've moved quickly to slow the spread and preserve necessary equipment by moving a majority of our visits to virtual and postponing all elective and nonurgent procedures," Fairview officials said in response to questions from the Star Tribune. "The result is not only a dramatic reduction in workloads … but also a dramatic reduction in revenues."
Revenue hits have prompted a number of health systems and private medical groups over the past two weeks to curtail hours or furlough workers. Hospitals, in particular, are incurring extra costs to prepare for the pandemic while also feeling financial pain from the elimination of elective procedures.
Hospitals remain strong supporters of an order from Gov. Tim Walz to halt elective and nonessential procedures in order to preserve scarce medical supplies, Mary Krinkie, vice president for government relations at the Minnesota Hospital Association, told lawmakers late last week. But they're taking a financial hit.
"Our hospitals right now in Minnesota are losing $31 million a day — $31 million a day — because of lost revenue from eliminating elective surgeries," Krinkie said. "We made that decision because we had to keep as much personal protective equipment as possible, but this is causing enormous financial hardship for hospitals."
The Minnesota Department of Health reported Saturday two more deaths linked to COVID-19, an increase that pushed the statewide death toll to 24 people in the global coronavirus emergency. The number of known COVID-19 cases increased from 789 to 865, according to the Health Department.