PROVIDENCE, RI -- Faced with an unexpected revenue shortfall, the Lifespan hospital group is asking its employees and leadership to recommend spending cuts.
In a letter to employees Thursday, Dr. Timothy J. Babineau, president and CEO, said that income "has been significantly behind what we had budgeted for the year." He blamed lower reimbursements, increases in charity care, longer hospital stays, the state's economic slump and competition from out-of-state providers.
Jane Bruno, Lifespan spokeswoman, declined to specify the amount of the shortfall and said it was premature to discuss specific cuts. But she pledged that reductions would not "compromise patient quality or safety."
Lifespan, which encompasses Rhode Island, Miriam, Newport and Bradley hospitals, ended the 2011 fiscal year $4.9 million in the black. Figures for last year were not immediately available.