UCSF-STANFORD: Reports Loss of $10 Million for October

      UCSF Stanford Health Care reported losses of $10 million in October, bringing total losses to $17.7 million for the current fiscal year, the San Francisco Examiner reports. The continued losses are attributed primarily to cutbacks in Medicare and Medi-Cal reimbursement, as well as the competitive managed care market in the Bay Area. Moreover, the system paid out $700,000 in severance packages to employees in October, said system spokesperson Mike Lassiter. Although patient volume was up 1%, revenue for the four-hospital system declined by $12 million in September and October compared to last year. The system formed in 1997 from a merger of the medical centers affiliated with UCSF and Stanford University. The system had been on a "cost-cutting program since spring, including closing the emergency room and inpatient beds at UCSF/Mount Zion Medical Center." For the fiscal year ending Aug. 31, the system lost $86 million. Given the financial repercussions of the venture's losses, Stanford President Gerhard Caspar announced in November that his institution would pull out of the endeavor. The system announced that the dissolution should be complete by March (12/7).