Bridgeport Hospital Initiatives
Bridgeport Hospital is a not-for-profit 425-bed teaching hospital located in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and is a teaching affiliate of the Yale School of Medicine. Bridgeport Hospital is a full-service acute care community teaching hospital that offers more than 60 sub-specialties. In Fiscal Year 2010, the Hospital recorded approximately 18,917 inpatient discharges and over 239,380 outpatient visits including 65,012 emergency department visits. Over 63.9% of the outpatients treated in the emergency department were Medicaid-insured or uninsured patients.
During Fiscal Year (FY) 2010, Bridgeport Hospital provided approximately $46 million in community benefits. This figure includes $25 million in Charity Care and unreimbursed Medicaid (at cost), $19.2 million in Health Professions Education, and over $1.8 million in community health improvement and education activities, subsidized services and in-kind contributions to community groups.
Bridgeport Hospital is the site of the only specialized burn care facility between New York and Boston and a regional American College of Surgeons-approved trauma center. It is also the site of southern Connecticut’s only multi-person Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy chamber, which aids in the treatment of stubborn wounds caused by diabetes, circulatory problems, radiation, traumatic injury and other conditions. Other specialties at Bridgeport Hospital include the Heart Institute, the Norma F. Pfriem Cancer Institute, the Norma F. Pfriem Breast Care Center, the Birthplace, the P.T. Barnum Pediatric Center, including a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, the Pediatric Asthma Center and a Children’s Emergency Center, the Joint Reconstruction Center, advanced neurosurgical services, mental health services including inpatient care, a 24-hour emergency crisis service, geriatric assessment service and day hospital programs, a Bloodless Medicine and Surgery Program and occupational health programs for area employers.
In FY 2010, the Hospital provided a total of $6.9 million (at cost) in free and charity care to patients who were uninsured or under-insured. In addition, the Hospital provided medical services to the local community, including 35,020 visits to the Primary Care Center, 83% of which were by Medicaid or uninsured patients.
In FY 2010, Bridgeport Hospital provided a total of $25 million in uncompensated care and Medicaid shortfall. The hospital provided uncompensated care for more than 30,000 inpatient discharges and outpatient visits, which totaled $12.5 million (calculations based on costs not charges). This included $6.9 million for the provision of free and charity care and $5.6 million in bad debt expense. In addition, the hospital had a total of 82,099 Medicaid inpatient discharges or outpatient visits. The total payments received from Medicaid for this patient population were $18.1 million below the actual cost of providing care for these patients.
Bridgeport is the most populous city in Connecticut, and the fifth-largest city in New England. Located in Fairfield County, the city has an estimated population of 136,000. The city is the core of the Greater Bridgeport area, which itself is considered part of the labor market area for New York City. The per capita income for Bridgeport is $18,931, which is $18,152 below the state's median per capita income of $37,083. About 18.4% of Bridgeport residents are under the federal poverty level, vs. 7.9% for the whole state. 8.5% of Bridgeport residents had income below 50% of federal poverty level, vs. 3.6% of the whole state.
Bridgeport Hospital places a significant emphasis on providing preventive health and wellness programs and various community services as a fundamental strategy to help improve the health of the community. Recent examples include: