Boston Globe quotes David Williams on Steward taxpayer bailout

Massachusetts was shocked by the pressure to bailout failing Steward hospitals. David Williams offered some perspective in the Boston Globe (State to make cash infusion of up to $700 million to shore up surviving Steward hospitals)

Even with the state’s financial backing, it will be no easy undertaking. Outside analysts also worry the effort could divert attention, and money, from other priorities and services such as primary care and mental health.

“It’s going to cost hundreds of millions of dollars to get the Steward hospitals back to a reasonable level,” said David E. Williams, president of Health Business Group, a Boston consulting firm. “These hospitals are losing money every day. Buyers will have to rebuild their basic functions.”

Others fear the hospitals’ rescue could become a money pit at a time when the hospital sector has become bloated and inefficient.

“It’s not a good investment,” said Williams, the Boston health care consultant. “Over time, we want to move health care from hospitals to community settings and primary care. The state’s money should be used to ease that transition, not to prop up hospitals that are failing.”