Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1988 [PAGE 538]

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528

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

[April 14

quotations received), was sent to each member of the board in advance of the meeting. A copy is being filed with the secretary of the board for record. O n motion of M r . Wolff, the purchases recommended were authorized by t h e following vote: Aye, Mrs. Galder, M r . Forsyth, Mrs. Gravenhorst, M r . Howard, M r . Logan, Miss Smith, M r . Wolff; no, n o n e ; absent, M r . H a h n , M r s . Shepherd, Governor Thompson. ( T h e student advisory vote w a s : Aye, M r . Evenson, M r . Wylie; no, none.) Comptroller's Monthly Report of Contracts Executed (31) T h e comptroller submitted the April 1988 report of contracts. T h e report included contractual agreements for payments to the University and contracts in amounts up to $50,000, to be paid by the University. A copy of this report is filed with the secretary. This report was received for record. Comptroller's Report of Investment Transactions through March 15,1988 (32) T h e comptroller presented the above report which includes transactions under Finance and Audit Committee guidelines and transactions under the comptroller's authority. A copy of this report is filed with the secretary of the board. O n m o t i o n of M r . Wolff, t h i s r e p o r t w a s a p p r o v e d a s p r e s e n t e d . Contract for Healthcare Consulting, University Hospital, Chicago (33) T h e University of Illinois Hospital is a multi-functional academic health center providing instruction to over 2,500 undergraduate and graduate students; conducting research in the health and medical fields; and providing high quality health care to many Illinois citizens. As is the case for other academic health centers throughout the country when compared with nonteaching hospitals, it provides specialized care to a population with a broader spectrum and greater severity of illness and handles a larger proportion of financially needy patients. Such factors place the hospital in a sensitive financial position because revenues are inadequate to cover the full range of services provided. Since Fiscal Year 1964, direct State support (through University appropriations) has decreased from 96 percent ($7.2 million) of hospital revenue to 14.0 percent ($15.5 million) in FY 1988. I n that period, the hospital has become increasingly dependent on revenues generated from collections from third party payors and from patients. This shift in sources of support has made the hospital extremely vulnerable to changes in funding policies by Federal Medicare/Medicaid and the State of Illinois' public assistance programs, as well as the reimbursement rates of private insurance companies and the competitive pricing generated by health maintenance organizations. A study calculated in FY 1986 indicated that the hospital lost $16.3 million as a result of changed policies within these government programs. Contributing further to the revenue instability is the fact that over 20 percent of the hospital's patients are categorized as "medically indigent." These are individuals who cannot afford private insurance, but who do not qualify for governmental health benefit programs. As a result, the hospital goes unreimbursed for the health care services provided to these patients.