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Gouverneur's Hospital Struggles With Finances

Story Published: Apr 18, 2012 at 6:58 PM EDT

Story Updated: Apr 18, 2012 at 6:58 PM EDT

It may not look like much right now, but a giant magnet will soon become part of E.J. Noble Hospital's new diagnostic MRI to better serve patients and help bring additional revenue to the Gouverneur medical facility.
 
"It's going to be accessible to the community five days a week," said hospital CEO Chuck Conole.
 
It is advances like the permanent installation of the whole body Magnet Resonance Imaging system and the hospital's new addition that are helping to increase patient services that generate more revenue.
 
"The key is how we manage it and how we work with the limited finances we have to move ahead," said Conole.
 
Auditors are at E.J. Noble this week closing out the books on 2011.

The hospital has not been seriously affected by software problems for billing, similar to those that led to Carthage Area Hospital's financial downfall.

Preliminary indications are the hospital will at least break even with its $26 million operating budget for last year.
 
Hospital officials say they are seeing an increase in the number of pregnant women receiving Medicaid who are seeking prenatal care, while Claxton-Hepburn's Maternal Care Center remains closed as physicians are unwilling to see Medicaid patients.
 
Meanwhile, there are no plans to close the hospital-affiliated Kinney Nursing Home despite ongoing financial problems that has the facility operating at a perennial deficit.
 
"It could be up to $100,000 we'd lose for the year," said Conole.
 
Looking ahead to the future, E.J. Noble officials say upgrades to the nursing home and the original hospital building, including the addition of an auxiliary operated gift shop, are on the horizon. 
Friday, May 24, 2013
, Watertown, NY

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