Despite the fact that hospitals aren’t hit the way the way the automotive sector or the retail has been, and that people will continue to fall sick irrespective of the economy, it seems that the number of people seeking medical care and the profitability of hospitals don’t walk hand-in-hand.

Growth stunted & patients decreasing

A recent report by the American Hospital Association (AHA) finds that the sputtering economy has already led to 45% of hospitals to postpone forthcoming capital projects, with about 13% being forced to completely stall any expansion projects already underway. The AHA report included 639 hospitals in the study.

Further, experts believe that even though people continue to fall sick they’re postponing, most treatments if not all, which can be classified as elective. The credit for the prevailing scenario goes to all the layoffs and the slowing economy. As per the Bureau of Labor Statistics the month of December saw some of the worst layoff figures, as there were 2,275 mass layoff actions, involving 226,117 workers.

What seems worse is that aside from foregoing elective treatments, patients seem to be avoiding essential drugs, with many actually abusing prescription drugs, such as narcotic painkillers , sedatives and tranquilizers and stimulants.

As a consequence, hospitals are reeling under delayed hospital equipment and supply purchases, declining patient visits, reduced staff with no fresh hiring, unpaid medical bills, in addition to ceasing any construction projects. The AHA survey, released in November last year found that patient visits were static or had decreased during the third quarter of 2008, and the cases of unpaid medical bills for hospitals registered a hike of 8%.

The government’s role in uplifting the spirit of hospitals is being thought to be instrumental as Medicare and Medicaid account for about half of the hospital business industry.

  China’s economy grew at the slowest pace since 2005 in the second quarter, prompting the yuan’s biggest drop in seven weeks on speculation the government will slow its advance to protect exporters.  Gross domestic product rose 10.1 percent from a year earlier, down from 10.6 percent in the first quarter, as exports weakened and the government curbed lending. Consumer prices rose 7.1 percent in June, slowing from 7.7 percent in May, the statistics bureau said Thursday in Beijing.  The yuan fell 0.2 percent against the dollar, paring a 7 percent advance this year that made it Asia’s best performer. Some Chinese officials are pressing for slower currency appreciation to protect jobs as cooling global demand threatens to trigger a slump in shipments from the world’s fastest-growing major economy.  “A slower pace of appreciation would mean breathing room for the export sector,” said Jing Ulrich, JPMorgan’s chairwoman of China equities.  The yuan traded at 6.8270 against the dollar as of 3:55 pm in Shanghai, the biggest drop since May 27.  GDP growth cooled for the fourth straight quarter. The median estimate of 18 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 10.3 percent expansion. The US economy grew 2.5 percent in the first quarter.  ‘Orderly Slowdown’  China’s growth is still the fastest of the world’s 20 biggest economies and is helping to sustain the global expansion this year as a housing slump and credit-market turmoil threaten to send the US into a recession.  “This is an orderly slowdown, not a dramatic one,” said Kevin Lai, a Hong Kong-based economist with Daiwa Institute of Research.  The trade surplus for the second quarter narrowed 12 percent from a year earlier to US$58.14 billion as import costs climbed and US demand faltered.  Export prospects have deteriorated, with US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke saying this week that the US faces “significant downside risks to the outlook for growth.”   Rising prices, constraints on agricultural output, lagging rural incomes and global financial market turmoil are problems for China’s economy, the statistics bureau said in a statement.  The Ministry of Commerce has urged China’s cabinet to rein in currency gains and raise some export rebates, a ministry official said July 14, speaking on condition of anonymity.  “We’ll Be Dead”  “We’ll all be dead if the government doesn’t increase tax rebates and slow the appreciation,” Tang Zhenya, a salesman at Changshu Shengtian Knitting & Clothing Co. in Jiangsu province said Wednesday.  Most textile companies were unprofitable in the first five months of the year, Du Yuzhou, President of China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Textiles said at an industry conference in Shanghai.  As many as 45 million workers earn their livings in export-oriented sectors, according to Jonathan Anderson, a Hong Kong-based economist with UBS AG. He cites government surveys.  Inflation has eased from February’s 12-year high of 8.7 percent on smaller gains in food prices. It remains above the central bank’s 4.8 percent annual target and rising commodity costs may keep prices elevated.  Producer-Price Inflation  Producer prices climbed 8.8 percent in June from a year earlier, the statistics bureau said, after rising 8.2 percent in May. That is the fastest pace since Bloomberg data began in 1999.  “The high producer-prices number points to the potential risk of inflation in the coming months,” said Huang Yiping, chief Asia economist at Citigroup Inc. in Hong Kong. “Inflation is still way above the official target so a tight policy will continue.”  Besides using the currency to cool inflation, China has imposed lending quotas and ordered banks to set aside a record 17.5 percent of deposits as reserves to soak up cash flooding the economy from trade, foreign direct investment and investors betting on gains by the yuan. The central bank hasn’t raised interest rates this year to avoid attracting capital inflows.  Standard Chartered Bank Plc today cut its forecast for four interest-rate increases this year to none and said policy makers’ next move will be to cut rates in 2009.

Despite the fact that hospitals aren’t hit the way the way the automotive sector or the retail has been, and that people will continue to fall sick irrespective of the economy, it seems that the number of people seeking medical care and the profitability of hospitals don’t walk hand-in-hand.

Growth stunted & patients decreasing

A recent report by the American Hospital Association (AHA) finds that the sputtering economy has already led to 45% of hospitals to postpone forthcoming capital projects, with about 13% being forced to completely stall any expansion projects already underway. The AHA report included 639 hospitals in the study.

Further, experts believe that even though people continue to fall sick they’re postponing, most treatments if not all, which can be classified as elective. The credit for the prevailing scenario goes to all the layoffs and the slowing economy. As per the Bureau of Labor Statistics the month of December saw some of the worst layoff figures, as there were 2,275 mass layoff actions, involving 226,117 workers.

What seems worse is that aside from foregoing elective treatments, patients seem to be avoiding essential drugs, with many actually abusing prescription drugs, such as narcotic painkillers , sedatives and tranquilizers and stimulants.

As a consequence, hospitals are reeling under delayed hospital equipment and supply purchases, declining patient visits, reduced staff with no fresh hiring, unpaid medical bills, in addition to ceasing any construction projects. The AHA survey, released in November last year found that patient visits were static or had decreased during the third quarter of 2008, and the cases of unpaid medical bills for hospitals registered a hike of 8%.

The government’s role in uplifting the spirit of hospitals is being thought to be instrumental as Medicare and Medicaid account for about half of the hospital business industry.

  China’s economy grew at the slowest pace since 2005 in the second quarter, prompting the yuan’s biggest drop in seven weeks on speculation the government will slow its advance to protect exporters.  Gross domestic product rose 10.1 percent from a year earlier, down from 10.6 percent in the first quarter, as exports weakened and the government curbed lending. Consumer prices rose 7.1 percent in June, slowing from 7.7 percent in May, the statistics bureau said Thursday in Beijing.  The yuan fell 0.2 percent against the dollar, paring a 7 percent advance this year that made it Asia’s best performer. Some Chinese officials are pressing for slower currency appreciation to protect jobs as cooling global demand threatens to trigger a slump in shipments from the world’s fastest-growing major economy.  “A slower pace of appreciation would mean breathing room for the export sector,” said Jing Ulrich, JPMorgan’s chairwoman of China equities.  The yuan traded at 6.8270 against the dollar as of 3:55 pm in Shanghai, the biggest drop since May 27.  GDP growth cooled for the fourth straight quarter. The median estimate of 18 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 10.3 percent expansion. The US economy grew 2.5 percent in the first quarter.  ‘Orderly Slowdown’  China’s growth is still the fastest of the world’s 20 biggest economies and is helping to sustain the global expansion this year as a housing slump and credit-market turmoil threaten to send the US into a recession.  “This is an orderly slowdown, not a dramatic one,” said Kevin Lai, a Hong Kong-based economist with Daiwa Institute of Research.  The trade surplus for the second quarter narrowed 12 percent from a year earlier to US$58.14 billion as import costs climbed and US demand faltered.  Export prospects have deteriorated, with US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke saying this week that the US faces “significant downside risks to the outlook for growth.”   Rising prices, constraints on agricultural output, lagging rural incomes and global financial market turmoil are problems for China’s economy, the statistics bureau said in a statement.  The Ministry of Commerce has urged China’s cabinet to rein in currency gains and raise some export rebates, a ministry official said July 14, speaking on condition of anonymity.  “We’ll Be Dead”  “We’ll all be dead if the government doesn’t increase tax rebates and slow the appreciation,” Tang Zhenya, a salesman at Changshu Shengtian Knitting & Clothing Co. in Jiangsu province said Wednesday.  Most textile companies were unprofitable in the first five months of the year, Du Yuzhou, President of China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Textiles said at an industry conference in Shanghai.  As many as 45 million workers earn their livings in export-oriented sectors, according to Jonathan Anderson, a Hong Kong-based economist with UBS AG. He cites government surveys.  Inflation has eased from February’s 12-year high of 8.7 percent on smaller gains in food prices. It remains above the central bank’s 4.8 percent annual target and rising commodity costs may keep prices elevated.  Producer-Price Inflation  Producer prices climbed 8.8 percent in June from a year earlier, the statistics bureau said, after rising 8.2 percent in May. That is the fastest pace since Bloomberg data began in 1999.  “The high producer-prices number points to the potential risk of inflation in the coming months,” said Huang Yiping, chief Asia economist at Citigroup Inc. in Hong Kong. “Inflation is still way above the official target so a tight policy will continue.”  Besides using the currency to cool inflation, China has imposed lending quotas and ordered banks to set aside a record 17.5 percent of deposits as reserves to soak up cash flooding the economy from trade, foreign direct investment and investors betting on gains by the yuan. The central bank hasn’t raised interest rates this year to avoid attracting capital inflows.  Standard Chartered Bank Plc today cut its forecast for four interest-rate increases this year to none and said policy makers’ next move will be to cut rates in 2009.

Despite the fact that hospitals aren’t hit the way the way the automotive sector or the retail has been, and that people will continue to fall sick irrespective of the economy, it seems that the number of people seeking medical care and the profitability of hospitals don’t walk hand-in-hand.

Growth stunted & patients decreasing

A recent report by the American Hospital Association (AHA) finds that the sputtering economy has already led to 45% of hospitals to postpone forthcoming capital projects, with about 13% being forced to completely stall any expansion projects already underway. The AHA report included 639 hospitals in the study.

Further, experts believe that even though people continue to fall sick they’re postponing, most treatments if not all, which can be classified as elective. The credit for the prevailing scenario goes to all the layoffs and the slowing economy. As per the Bureau of Labor Statistics the month of December saw some of the worst layoff figures, as there were 2,275 mass layoff actions, involving 226,117 workers.

What seems worse is that aside from foregoing elective treatments, patients seem to be avoiding essential drugs, with many actually abusing prescription drugs, such as narcotic painkillers , sedatives and tranquilizers and stimulants.

As a consequence, hospitals are reeling under delayed hospital equipment and supply purchases, declining patient visits, reduced staff with no fresh hiring, unpaid medical bills, in addition to ceasing any construction projects. The AHA survey, released in November last year found that patient visits were static or had decreased during the third quarter of 2008, and the cases of unpaid medical bills for hospitals registered a hike of 8%.

The government’s role in uplifting the spirit of hospitals is being thought to be instrumental as Medicare and Medicaid account for about half of the hospital business industry.

  China’s economy grew at the slowest pace since 2005 in the second quarter, prompting the yuan’s biggest drop in seven weeks on speculation the government will slow its advance to protect exporters.  Gross domestic product rose 10.1 percent from a year earlier, down from 10.6 percent in the first quarter, as exports weakened and the government curbed lending. Consumer prices rose 7.1 percent in June, slowing from 7.7 percent in May, the statistics bureau said Thursday in Beijing.  The yuan fell 0.2 percent against the dollar, paring a 7 percent advance this year that made it Asia’s best performer. Some Chinese officials are pressing for slower currency appreciation to protect jobs as cooling global demand threatens to trigger a slump in shipments from the world’s fastest-growing major economy.  “A slower pace of appreciation would mean breathing room for the export sector,” said Jing Ulrich, JPMorgan’s chairwoman of China equities.  The yuan traded at 6.8270 against the dollar as of 3:55 pm in Shanghai, the biggest drop since May 27.  GDP growth cooled for the fourth straight quarter. The median estimate of 18 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 10.3 percent expansion. The US economy grew 2.5 percent in the first quarter.  ‘Orderly Slowdown’  China’s growth is still the fastest of the world’s 20 biggest economies and is helping to sustain the global expansion this year as a housing slump and credit-market turmoil threaten to send the US into a recession.  “This is an orderly slowdown, not a dramatic one,” said Kevin Lai, a Hong Kong-based economist with Daiwa Institute of Research.  The trade surplus for the second quarter narrowed 12 percent from a year earlier to US$58.14 billion as import costs climbed and US demand faltered.  Export prospects have deteriorated, with US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke saying this week that the US faces “significant downside risks to the outlook for growth.”   Rising prices, constraints on agricultural output, lagging rural incomes and global financial market turmoil are problems for China’s economy, the statistics bureau said in a statement.  The Ministry of Commerce has urged China’s cabinet to rein in currency gains and raise some export rebates, a ministry official said July 14, speaking on condition of anonymity.  “We’ll Be Dead”  “We’ll all be dead if the government doesn’t increase tax rebates and slow the appreciation,” Tang Zhenya, a salesman at Changshu Shengtian Knitting & Clothing Co. in Jiangsu province said Wednesday.  Most textile companies were unprofitable in the first five months of the year, Du Yuzhou, President of China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Textiles said at an industry conference in Shanghai.  As many as 45 million workers earn their livings in export-oriented sectors, according to Jonathan Anderson, a Hong Kong-based economist with UBS AG. He cites government surveys.  Inflation has eased from February’s 12-year high of 8.7 percent on smaller gains in food prices. It remains above the central bank’s 4.8 percent annual target and rising commodity costs may keep prices elevated.  Producer-Price Inflation  Producer prices climbed 8.8 percent in June from a year earlier, the statistics bureau said, after rising 8.2 percent in May. That is the fastest pace since Bloomberg data began in 1999.  “The high producer-prices number points to the potential risk of inflation in the coming months,” said Huang Yiping, chief Asia economist at Citigroup Inc. in Hong Kong. “Inflation is still way above the official target so a tight policy will continue.”  Besides using the currency to cool inflation, China has imposed lending quotas and ordered banks to set aside a record 17.5 percent of deposits as reserves to soak up cash flooding the economy from trade, foreign direct investment and investors betting on gains by the yuan. The central bank hasn’t raised interest rates this year to avoid attracting capital inflows.  Standard Chartered Bank Plc today cut its forecast for four interest-rate increases this year to none and said policy makers’ next move will be to cut rates in 2009.

Despite the fact that hospitals aren’t hit the way the way the automotive sector or the retail has been, and that people will continue to fall sick irrespective of the economy, it seems that the number of people seeking medical care and the profitability of hospitals don’t walk hand-in-hand.

Growth stunted & patients decreasing

A recent report by the American Hospital Association (AHA) finds that the sputtering economy has already led to 45% of hospitals to postpone forthcoming capital projects, with about 13% being forced to completely stall any expansion projects already underway. The AHA report included 639 hospitals in the study.

Further, experts believe that even though people continue to fall sick they’re postponing, most treatments if not all, which can be classified as elective. The credit for the prevailing scenario goes to all the layoffs and the slowing economy. As per the Bureau of Labor Statistics the month of December saw some of the worst layoff figures, as there were 2,275 mass layoff actions, involving 226,117 workers.

What seems worse is that aside from foregoing elective treatments, patients seem to be avoiding essential drugs, with many actually abusing prescription drugs, such as narcotic painkillers , sedatives and tranquilizers and stimulants.

As a consequence, hospitals are reeling under delayed hospital equipment and supply purchases, declining patient visits, reduced staff with no fresh hiring, unpaid medical bills, in addition to ceasing any construction projects. The AHA survey, released in November last year found that patient visits were static or had decreased during the third quarter of 2008, and the cases of unpaid medical bills for hospitals registered a hike of 8%.

The government’s role in uplifting the spirit of hospitals is being thought to be instrumental as Medicare and Medicaid account for about half of the hospital business industry.

  China’s economy grew at the slowest pace since 2005 in the second quarter, prompting the yuan’s biggest drop in seven weeks on speculation the government will slow its advance to protect exporters.  Gross domestic product rose 10.1 percent from a year earlier, down from 10.6 percent in the first quarter, as exports weakened and the government curbed lending. Consumer prices rose 7.1 percent in June, slowing from 7.7 percent in May, the statistics bureau said Thursday in Beijing.  The yuan fell 0.2 percent against the dollar, paring a 7 percent advance this year that made it Asia’s best performer. Some Chinese officials are pressing for slower currency appreciation to protect jobs as cooling global demand threatens to trigger a slump in shipments from the world’s fastest-growing major economy.  “A slower pace of appreciation would mean breathing room for the export sector,” said Jing Ulrich, JPMorgan’s chairwoman of China equities.  The yuan traded at 6.8270 against the dollar as of 3:55 pm in Shanghai, the biggest drop since May 27.  GDP growth cooled for the fourth straight quarter. The median estimate of 18 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 10.3 percent expansion. The US economy grew 2.5 percent in the first quarter.  ‘Orderly Slowdown’  China’s growth is still the fastest of the world’s 20 biggest economies and is helping to sustain the global expansion this year as a housing slump and credit-market turmoil threaten to send the US into a recession.  “This is an orderly slowdown, not a dramatic one,” said Kevin Lai, a Hong Kong-based economist with Daiwa Institute of Research.  The trade surplus for the second quarter narrowed 12 percent from a year earlier to US$58.14 billion as import costs climbed and US demand faltered.  Export prospects have deteriorated, with US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke saying this week that the US faces “significant downside risks to the outlook for growth.”   Rising prices, constraints on agricultural output, lagging rural incomes and global financial market turmoil are problems for China’s economy, the statistics bureau said in a statement.  The Ministry of Commerce has urged China’s cabinet to rein in currency gains and raise some export rebates, a ministry official said July 14, speaking on condition of anonymity.  “We’ll Be Dead”  “We’ll all be dead if the government doesn’t increase tax rebates and slow the appreciation,” Tang Zhenya, a salesman at Changshu Shengtian Knitting & Clothing Co. in Jiangsu province said Wednesday.  Most textile companies were unprofitable in the first five months of the year, Du Yuzhou, President of China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Textiles said at an industry conference in Shanghai.  As many as 45 million workers earn their livings in export-oriented sectors, according to Jonathan Anderson, a Hong Kong-based economist with UBS AG. He cites government surveys.  Inflation has eased from February’s 12-year high of 8.7 percent on smaller gains in food prices. It remains above the central bank’s 4.8 percent annual target and rising commodity costs may keep prices elevated.  Producer-Price Inflation  Producer prices climbed 8.8 percent in June from a year earlier, the statistics bureau said, after rising 8.2 percent in May. That is the fastest pace since Bloomberg data began in 1999.  “The high producer-prices number points to the potential risk of inflation in the coming months,” said Huang Yiping, chief Asia economist at Citigroup Inc. in Hong Kong. “Inflation is still way above the official target so a tight policy will continue.”  Besides using the currency to cool inflation, China has imposed lending quotas and ordered banks to set aside a record 17.5 percent of deposits as reserves to soak up cash flooding the economy from trade, foreign direct investment and investors betting on gains by the yuan. The central bank hasn’t raised interest rates this year to avoid attracting capital inflows.  Standard Chartered Bank Plc today cut its forecast for four interest-rate increases this year to none and said policy makers’ next move will be to cut rates in 2009.