Gas Field Workers Cited in Pennsylvania Hospital’s Losses

See AP Article, Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader, December 24th

JERSEY SHORE, Pa. – The first operating loss in about five years at a north-central Pennsylvania hospital is a sign of the influx of natural gas field workers without health insurance, the facility’s CEO said.

Jersey Shore Hospital president and CEO Carey Plummer told the Sun-Gazette of Williamsport that many subcontractors attracted to the area’s Marcellus Shale drilling boom do not cover employees.

That has brought a growing number of uninsured people to the community-owned, nonprofit hospital, Plummer said.

“We had a loss,” Plummer said. “I don’t think it’s a sign of the economy. I think it’s the influx of the gas, industry and those who lack insurance.”

The hospital reported an operating loss of $770,000 while providing more than $3 million in care to people unable to pay in its most recent fiscal year. The uncompensated care figure is the highest it has ever seen.

Other significant factors contributing to the hospital’s losses include cuts in Medicaid reimbursements, employee salary increases and higher pension costs, Plummer said.

Jersey Shore is about 65 miles north of Pennsylvania’s capital of Harrisburg. The hospital says its service area covers about 45,000 people in Clinton and Lycoming counties. It reported 3,260 acute care days, 67,691 outpatient visits and 14, 835 emergency room visits in the most recent fiscal year.

With about 660 wells, Lycoming County is the fourth most heavily drilled county in the Marcellus Shale rush that began in earnest in 2008, according to state records. The footprint in Clinton County is smaller, with just under 100 since then. The state’s two most heavily drilled counties, Tioga and Bradford, are neighbors of Lycoming County.

The Southwest Pennsylvania Environmental Health Project is a non-profit that has opened in Washington County, PA. This project is in response to growing concerns over the potential health effects from hazardous pollutant releases associated with Marcellus shale gas development. It is funded by the Heinz Endowments, the Pittsburgh Foundation and the Claneil Foundation. Per the Don Hopey story in the  Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

The office will help area residents recognize and understand exposure pathways in the air and water, and schedule medical exams and evaluations to diagnose health problems that may result from them, said Raina Rippel, project director. An on-site Washington County nurse practitioner is available by appointment for home visits, exams and consultations, and already has conducted several patient assessments.

“I’ve been out there in the communities, listening to residents. We know there are public health impacts, but there is uncertainty,” Ms. Rippel said. “Our goal is to help individuals — help them navigate the health care systems, help them get the answers to the health care questions they have and put them in contact with the resources they need, whether that’s water testing or filtration or medical services.”

Washington County has the most Marcellus wells (about 700), more than any other county in southwestern Pennsylvania, and at least a dozen compressor stations. Impacts include stomach aches and headaches, nosebleeds and cognitive difficulties, as well as stress-related disorders, said Dr. Leslie Walleigh, a project consultant and a physician specializing in occupational and environmental medicine.

“We would expect, based on predictable exposures, that some individuals will experience respiratory symptoms, with worsening of underlying asthma and other lung diseases, and possibly the new onset of asthma,” Dr. Walleigh said. “We also expect to see conditions related to the emotional and psychological stress resulting from the personal, family and community life disruption stemming from the shale gas activities.”

This new program will be the first to study the health impacts from shale gas development in any comprehensive and methodical way, said David Brown, a public health toxicologist in Connecticut and director of Public Health Toxicology for Environment and Human Health Inc., which helped design the program.