Julie Davis

jdavis@cherryroad.com

Nebraska hospitals are facing “a number of headwinds” following the passage of The One Big Beautiful Bill on July 4.

Jeremy Nordquist, president of the Nebraska Hospital Association (NHA), visited the Nebraska City Rotary Club on July 9 to talk about the state of the state’s hospitals.

Nordquist said the state’s 92 hospitals that are members of the NHA employ 54,000 people and have a total of $19 billion in economic impact for Nebraska.

Of the association member hospitals, 71 percent are independent, 20 percent are part of a system (like CHI Health St. Mary’s), and 9 percent are considered regional medical centers.

In addition to funding changes brought about by the recent passage of The One Big Beautiful Bill, Nordquist said hospitals across Nebraska face workforce challenges and rising costs of supplies and pharmaceuticals.

He said 40 of the 92 members of the NHA operated in the red in 2023, meaning their expenses exceeded their income. One hospital, in Friend, changed its designation to a rural emergency hospital in order to stay open. As the name suggests, that facility treats only emergency patients; no inpatient beds are available.

Other NHA hospitals have cut inpatient services or discontinued specialty care, such as obstetrics or orthopedics, to keep their doors open, said Nordquist.

He credited the strong community support in Nebraska City as one factor helping CHI Health St. Mary’s, along with two other vital components.

“You can’t have a hospital without financial stability and workforce development,” he said.