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Which Colorado Hospitals got Federal Covid Funds and Why?

The Federal Government paid certain Colorado hospitals $236 million for COVID-19 relief. But this money only went to some hospitals and not to others, according to the CDC . None of this money went to Boulder Community Hospital. Why? Furthermore, none of the hospitals in Colorado Springs, Pueblo, or Grand Junction received any federal money.

Why?

United States taxpayers paid $178,000,000,000 ($178 billion) to certain hospitals and healthcare providers for coronavirus relief as of September 2021. In addition, Congress established the Paycheck Protection Program that provided health care providers an estimated $100 billion in funds

These funds were distributed via the CARES Act; the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act (PPPHCEA); and the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations (CRRSA) Act.

The following table from the CDC shows which hospitals in Colorado got federal funding for COVID. Note that, despite high populations and many deaths due to COVID, Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Castle Rock, and Grand Junction received no money.

NameCityCounty1st Round Payment2nd Round PaymentTotal
All Colorado Hospitals


$99,545,171$136,751,885$236,297,056
MEDICAL CENTER OF AURORA
– MAIN CAMPUS (HCA)
AURORAArapahoe,Douglas, Adams$17,849,051$6,270,651$24,119,702
UCHEALTH UNIVERSITY
OF COLORADO HOSPITAL
AURORAArapahoe,Douglas, Adams$36,588,558$17,516,382$54,104,940
PLATTE VALLEY MEDICAL CENTERBRIGHTONAdams
$3,850,000$3,850,000
EAST MORGAN COUNTY HOSPITALBRUSHMorgan
$1,950,000$1,950,000
CK ADVENTIST HOSPITALCASTLE ROCKDouglas
$1,500,000$1,500,000
DENVER HEALTH MAIN CAMPUSDENVERDenver$16,563,452$14,015,488$30,578,940
PORTER ADVENTIST HOSPITALDENVERDenver
$5,000,000$5,000,000
ROSE MEDICAL CENTER (HCA)DENVERDenver
$7,950,000$7,950,000
SAINT JOSEPH HOSPITAL
(EXEMPLA ST JOSEPH HOSPITAL)
DENVERDenver$12,936,570$4,535,246$17,471,816
SWEDISH MEDICAL CENTER (HCA)ENGLEWOODArapahoe
$9,900,000$9,900,000
COLORADO PLAINS MEDICAL CENTERFORT MORGANMorgan
$1,650,000$1,650,000
ST ANTHONY SUMMIT MEDICAL CENTERFRISCOSummit
$1,500,000$1,500,000
NORTH COLORADO MEDICAL CENTERGREELEY
$15,607,540$3,164,118$18,771,658
GUNNISON VALLEY HEALTHGUNNISON

$2,200,000$2,200,000
NORTHERN COLORADO
LONG TERM ACUTE HOSPITAL
JOHNSTOWNLarimer.Weld
$750,000$750,000
GOOD SAMARITAN
MEDICAL CENTER
LAFAYETTEBoulder
$6,800,000$6,800,000
LITTLETON ADVENTIST HOSPITALLITTLETONArapahoe
$5,450,000$5,450,000
UCHEALTH LONGS PEAK HOSPITALLONGMONTBoulder. Weld
$3,000,000$3,000,000
UCHEALTH MEDICAL
CENTER OF THE ROCKIES
LOVELANDLarimer
$6,000,000$6,000,000
MONTROSE MEMORIAL HOSPITALMONTROSEMontrose
$1,850,000$1,850,000
PARKER ADVENTIST HOSPITALPARKERDouglas
$6,000,000$6,000,000
GRAND RIVER
MEDICAL CENTER
RIFLEGarfield$500,000$500,000
STERLING REGIONAL MEDCENTERSTERLINGLogan
$900,000$900,000
NORTH SUBURBAN MEDICAL CENTERTHORNTONAdams
$7,200,000$7,200,000
VAIL HEALTH (VAIL VALLEY
MEDICAL CENTER)
VAILEagle
$1,750,000$1,750,000
ST ANTHONY
NORTH HEALTH CAMPUS
WESTMINSTERJefferson, Adams
$5,400,000$5,400,000
LUTHERAN MEDICAL CENTERWHEAT RIDGEJefferson
$10,150,000$10,150,000
Colorado SpringsEl Paso


$0
Grand
Junction
Mesa

$0
PuebloPueblo


$0
Castle RockDouglas


$0
GreelyWeld


$0
Federal Money Given to Certain Colorado Hospitals for COVID Relief
Source: CDC

The Department of Health and Human Services distributed two rounds of payments to hospitals in High Impact areas for positive COVID-19 admissions.

In the first round of the High Impact Allocation, $12 billion was distributed to nearly 400 hospitals that provided inpatient care for 100 or more COVID-19 patients through April 10, 2020. $2 billion of these payments was distributed to these hospitals based on their Medicare disproportionate share and uncompensated care payments. In the second round of funding, $10 billion was distributed to hospitals having over 161 COVID-19 admissions between January 1 and June 10, 2020.

Federal coronavirus relief funds and cost reductions allowed some but not all hospitals to remain profitable during the first three quarters of 2020, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Furthermore,  in 2021, the six largest hospital systems generated profits that exceeded pre-pandemic levels, according to MedPAC’s preliminary data. (see list of top 10 hospital systems.)

Why did some hospitals get federal dollars and others did not?

According to the Centers for Disease Control, the hospitals that got the money had more patients early in the pandemic. But what about those hospitals who later had more patients? As data from the New York Times below shows, the biggest county in Colorado, El Paso County, had the most COVID-19 deaths, yet hospitals there received no COVID-19 relief. Why?

COVID Cases and Deaths in Colorado Counties

CountyCounty SeatRankCountyPopulation 2020TOTAL CASESPER 100,000TOTAL DEATHSPER 100,000
El Paso CountyColorado Springs1El Paso County730,395181,58625,2061,697236
Denver, City and County of Denver2Denver County715,522166,63322,9141,547213
Arapahoe CountyLittleton3Arapahoe County655,070150,77022,9631,376210
Adams CountyBrighton5Adams County519,572132,13825,5381,330257
Jefferson CountyGolden4Jefferson County582,910120,06020,5981,457250
Weld CountyGreeley9Weld County328,98181,70725,180773238
Douglas CountyCastle Rock7Douglas County357,97877,18721,981441126
Larimer CountyFort Collins6Larimer County359,06675,34921,112510143
Boulder CountyBoulder8Boulder County330,75862,34319,112413127
Pueblo CountyPueblo10Pueblo County168,16245,22626,852797473
Mesa CountyGrand Junction11Mesa County155,70341,87327,153530344
Eagle CountyEagle14Eagle County55,73115,76228,5923563
Fremont CountyCañon City16Fremont County48,93914,99431,343180376
Garfield CountyGlenwood Springs13Garfield County61,68514,36023,90994157
Broomfield, City and County ofBroomfield12Broomfield County74,11213,08718,572128182
La Plata CountyDurango15La Plata County55,63812,61522,43880142
Summit CountyBreckenridge19Summit County31,0559,67831,2081755
Montrose CountyMontrose17Montrose County42,6799,16421,432166388
Logan CountySterling25Logan County21,5287,30732,607115513
Routt CountySteamboat Springs23Routt County24,8296,32124,65527105
Pitkin CountyAspen29Pitkin County17,3586,30135,465634
Montezuma CountyCortez22Montezuma County25,8496,11923,37073279
Delta CountyDelta18Delta County31,1965,96319,135137440
Morgan CountyFort Morgan20Morgan County29,1115,53419,038153526
Teller CountyCripple Creek24Teller County24,7104,75618,73357225
Elbert CountyKiowa21Elbert County26,0624,70317,59540150
Alamosa CountyAlamosa31Alamosa County16,3764,48327,61768419
Chaffee CountySalida26Chaffee County19,4764,37521,49251251
Otero CountyLa Junta27Otero County18,6904,23823,186127695
Las Animas CountyTrinidad33Las Animas County14,5553,54024,40441283
Grand CountyHot Sulphur Springs32Grand County15,7173,45121,93324153
Gunnison CountyGunnison30Gunnison County16,9183,32719,05320115
Crowley CountyOrdway47Crowley County5,9223,15051,97228462
Moffat CountyCraig35Moffat County13,2922,97522,39751384
Archuleta CountyPagosa Springs34Archuleta County13,3592,85420,34415107
Park CountyFairplay28Park County17,3902,77514,72520106
Rio Grande CountyDel Norte37Rio Grande County11,5392,77324,61246408
Prowers CountyLamar36Prowers County11,9992,60221,37748394
Bent CountyLas Animas50Bent County5,6502,50144,84547843
San Miguel CountyTelluride40San Miguel County8,0722,23727,3519110
Lincoln CountyHugo49Lincoln County5,6752,10836,9769158
Yuma CountyWray38Yuma County9,9881,85518,51524240
Lake CountyLeadville42Lake County7,4361,78221,927225
Conejos CountyConejos41Conejos County7,4611,71720,92652634
Rio Blanco CountyMeeker45Rio Blanco County6,5291,66226,28113206
Kit Carson CountyBurlington43Kit Carson County7,0871,59022,40434479
Clear Creek CountyGeorgetown39Clear Creek County9,3971,51515,61912124
Huerfano CountyWalsenburg44Huerfano County6,8201,43320,77732464
Saguache CountySaguache46Saguache County6,3681,16016,99912176
Washington CountyAkron52Washington County4,8171,04721,33329591
Gilpin CountyCentral City48Gilpin County5,80893414,961464
Phillips CountyHolyoke54Phillips County4,53086920,37519445
Ouray CountyOuray51Ouray County4,87484317,0236121
Baca CountySpringfield55Baca County3,50683123,2068223
Costilla CountySan Luis56Costilla County3,49967017,23715386
Custer CountyWestcliffe53Custer County4,70463312,49019375
Sedgwick CountyJulesburg57Sedgwick County2,40448021,35211489
Dolores CountyDove Creek58Dolores County2,32635417,2268389
Kiowa CountyEads60Kiowa County1,44633223,6136427
Cheyenne CountyCheyenne Wells59Cheyenne County1,74832117,5319492
Data from the New York Times

What do you think? Is it fair that the US government gave some hospitals millions of dollars while giving others no money? Is this a case of Crony Capitalism? Or is there some other explanation? Did any small, private medical practices get money?

For more about federal funding of the medical industry, visit Freedom from Medical Bankruptcy

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