Southeast Iowa Regional Medical Center in Burlington has closed its skilled care unit and has limited patient bed capacity in three additional units following a $40 million operating cost loss, The Hawk Eye reported Aug. 3.
The three units with limited patient bed capacity are the hospital's acute care, cardiovascular and intensive care units. The Skilled Nursing Unit at Klein Center has been fully closed to move staff to work in other areas of the hospital.
The decision to scale back services comes as a result of staff shortages along with the high cost of travel staff.
"We just closed our fiscal year and we've lost over $40 million," Matt Wenzel, president and CEO of parent company Green River Health, told the publication. "[About] half of that is because of travelers."
Mr. Wenzel added that losses have carried into the current fiscal year, with the hospital incurring losses of $2 million per week for the past three months.