Three new studies describe how the COVID-19 pandemic cratered the finances of many US hospitals, one finding that most federal relief funds went to the already best-resourced facilities and the other two showing the devastating monetary effects of delaying or canceling surgeries.Wide disparities in fund allocationIn a study published late last week in JAMA Health Forum, RAND Corp.
researchers traced High-Impact Distribution Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding to 952 hospitals.
Data, which were taken from hospital cost reports in the Healthcare Cost Report Information System, were analyzed from December 2020 through June 2021.The researchers identified wide disparities in fund allocation, with 23.6% of matched