Worcester Business Journal

6 Worcester Business Journal | June 16, 2025 | wbjournal.com said Walsh. Massachusetts has been histori- cally known for its high numbers of insured patients, with 93.8% of residents reporting continuous health insurance cover- age, according to data collected by the state Center for Health Information and Analysis. Still, hospitals are seeing more pa- tients, and more of them are coming in without insurance, said Walsh. Hospital occupancy rates in the U.S. have increased from an average of 63.9% between 2009 and 2019 to an average of 75.3% between May 2023 and April 2024, according to the healthcare publi- cation Healthcare Dive. Difficult decisions UMass Memorial Health in Worcester expected to receive about $22 million more from the HSN than it did this year, with the system losing about $40 million more due to costs not covered by the safety net, said Dr. Eric Dickson, presi- dent and CEO of UMass Memorial. e system has already attempted to use insurers more to help support the deficit, but that's not enough. "If you're losing money overall, you tend to try to grow profitable programs and shrink unprofitable programs," said Dickson. A $250M gap in the safety net e Mass. Health Safety Net is experiencing its greatest-ever deficit, leaving Central Mass. commu- nity centers and hospitals to fight for themselves Steve Walsh, CEO and president of the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association IMAGE | ADOBESTOCK.COM BY MICA KANNER-MASCOLO WBJ Staff Writer W hen an under or unin- sured Massachusetts resident requires certain medical treat- ments, such as many in radiology, psychiatry, or rehabilitation, the cost of their care oen falls to the state's Health Safety Net. e fund serves to reimburse community health centers and acute care hospitals for specific es- sential services for those under and unin- sured, including for those whose services aren't covered by Medicaid. But what happens when that funding falls short? e state's HSN is operating at an estimated $250 million deficit for fiscal 2025, dumping the burden of payment directly onto the state's health centers and hospitals. at's a deficit increase of more than 1,000% since fiscal 2020, and the shortfall is expected to reach ap- proximately $290 million in fiscal 2026, according to the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association. In Central Massachusetts, health- care leaders are warning the shortfall will mean exacerbated emergency wait times, restricted service offerings, and potential hospital closures — conse- quences expected to touch everyone in the region, uninsured or not. "at's a disaster for our patients. at's a disaster for us as a health center, and that's a disaster for the city of Worcester," said Louis Brady, president and CEO of the Family Health Center of Worcester. Struggling ERs Established in 2006, HSN was created to help bridge the payment gap for health centers and acute care hospitals providing care to some of the state's most vulnerable residents. is fiscal year, hos- pitals and insurers each contributed $165 million while the state kicked in an extra $15 million, according to the MHA. e rise in the HSN deficit is a cumu- lative result of systemic issues intensified since the COVID pandemic, namely, the healthcare workforce shortage. "It's really an industry that is strug- gling. ey're so good at responding, doing what they need to do to care for patients. But it's really a workforce still recovering from COVID, and a system that just isn't functioning anymore the way that it used to," said Steve Walsh, MHA president and CEO. roughout the eight emergency departments within UMass Memorial Health, based in Worcester, wait times averages range between 27 to 181 min- utes. e system's stand-alone emergen- cy facility in Webster has the shortest wait times while its trauma center in Worcester has the longest. Longer wait times come at the finan- cial expense of hospitals because they're simply not able to treat as many patients, Louis Brady, president and CEO of the Family Health Center of Worcester

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