Across the state, California’s hospitals are facing serious challenges — particularly those institutions serving our urban, low-income and historically marginalized communities. Metropolitan anchor hospitals, as they have come to be known, play a vital role in advancing health equity and are disproportionately affected by the problems facing the entire health care system.
Health care costs, which were already increasing before the COVID-19 pandemic, are now accelerating at an even faster pace. Inflation, supply chain issues and rising labor costs are making the situation even more dire. Today’s economic headwinds have tremendous implications for the metropolitan anchor hospitals and their ability to improve patient access to care, reduce health care disparities and advance equity in some of California’s most economically challenged neighborhoods.
The trends here mirror what is happening nationally. In 2020, health care costs represented nearly 20% of the United States’ gross domestic product, a sharp rise from 2019 and more than four times higher than in 1960. COVID-19 helped fuel the rapid acceleration of health care costs, pushing hospitals to the brink. For America’s urban safety net hospitals, these increases have made it even harder to provide care in high-need communities.
