PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island’s hospitals would cost $3.4 billion to replace in 2005 dollars, the R.I. Department of Health said in a report released today.
“Hospital Capital Investment in Rhode Island (2005)” analyzes the Ocean State’s hospital capital base and the amount and adequacy of new capital investment and gives a summary of each hospital’s capital structure.
The department found that Rhode Island hospitals made an average of $157 million per year in capital investments, enough to exceed their minimum needs statewide.
To finance their investments in capital assets, the report found, the state’s hospitals used less debt than their counterparts across the Northeast: 52 percent locally versus 62 percent regionally. And their capital investment-related fixed expenses were lower, at 4.7 percent, than the average Northeastern hospital’s 5.8 percent.
“This report continues Health’s role as a key provider of health care performance information,” said Dr. David R. Gifford, the state director of health, said in a statement accompanying the release.
“Hospitals are highly capital-intensive,” Gifford added, “and evaluating this provider community may serve as a first step in implementing comprehensive health care and facilities planning in the state, given the continuing concerns over medical costs and trends.”
Additional information, including the full hospital capital investment report, is available at www.Health.ri.gov.
