Hawaii hospitals still losing money

HONOLULU (AP) - Hawaii's 16 hospitals are continuing to lose money.

That's the finding of a study the Ernst & Young accounting firm conducted for the Healthcare Association of Hawaii.

It says the island hospitals had operating losses of $187 million in 2008. That's on top of $212 million in losses reported for 2007.

Terri Fujii is managing partner for Ernst & Young.

She said Wednesday that low reimbursements from government health programs contributed to the losses. She also cited a lack of long-term nursing facilities resulting in patients staying in hospitals longer.

Looking to the future, Fujii says hospital losses likely will spike next year as unemployed people run out of temporary COBRA insurance and more uninsured people go to emergency rooms.