Winneshiek Medical Center will provide over $1 million in charity care this fiscal year

When patients are unable to pay their hospital bills, hospitals often end up not getting paid and writing off those charges.  This "charity care" will be a major budget item for Winneshiek Medical Center for its 2010-2011 fiscal year.

Chief Financial Office Lynn Luloff says the final figures aren't completed yet for the July 1st, 2010 to June 30th, 2011 fiscal year, but there's little doubt the figure will exceed $1 million.

Winneshiek County gives the hospital $430,000 a year towards the costs of this charity care.  But the remaining $570,000 this fiscal year will just get written off--leaving the hospital to look for other sources of revenues to pay the expenses of providing such care.