Coulee Medical Center takes in $4.4 million in CARES Act relief

Coulee Medical Center financial documents show a loss of just over $332,000 in August, but a huge pot of cash came through under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security

Act Congress passed earlier this year.

CMC banked some $4.4 million in CARES Act funds, Chief Financial Officer Kelly Hughes reported to hospital district commissioners Monday night over a Zoom meeting. That put the hospital in the black by $4,085,192 for the month and $988,443 for the year so far.

That compares to the gain CMC had planned on, pre-pandemic, of nearly $2.4 million through August.

Not only did the state-issued shutdown and subsequent re-opening restrictions around the COVD-19 pandemic affect normal operations, but the hospital, like others around the nation, nearly stopped surgeries for a time.

And health care professionals across the nation have noted a marked decrease in people seeking care for normal health issues. That has led to deep concern that people are not getting the care they need when they’re suffering from serious symptoms that need immediate care, such as those that accompany heart attacks or strokes.

Hughes said that’s reflected in CMC’s emergency department visits, which numbered just 306 in August and July, up from the low 260s in May and June.

Coulee Family Medicine visits were up to 1,484 in August, up from 1,210 in May.