GALVESTON, Texas (AP) _The University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, nearly two years since being hit by Hurricane Ike, has reduced its level of indigent care during tough economic times.
The Houston Chronicle reported Thursday that UTMB last year devoted 2.6 percent of patient services to charity care, compared to 20.6 percent in 1999.
UTMB officials say the Legislature wants the hospital complex to make money, not lose it as was was happening in the decade before Ike struck on Sept. 13, 2008. Senior vice president Dr. Ben Raimer says “it is a world of accountability.”
The medical branch has struggled to rebuild since Ike and had sought state support for reconstruction. The hospital began readmitting patients in January 2009. The emergency room reopened a year ago.
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