Access to capital: implications for hospital consolidation

Recent economic challenges have left many independent hospitals and their boards concerned about long-term viability of their organizations as stand-alone facilities. The CFO's role should be to facilitate a candid, objective assessment of the organization's ability to continue to go it alone. Key indicators that should be considered in such an assessment include patient volume, degree of physician alignment, profitability, current debt burden, cash, available capital versus capital requirements, and credit rating changes.