Shriners Prepare to Close Some of Their Children's Hospitals Because of Financial Problems

NYT ^

[mnehring]

Shriners Hospitals for Children, an organization where the practice of medicine has long been unfazed by finances, is struggling with a money crunch and may close some of its hospitals.

Rising health care costs and an endowment that has lost $2 billion -- a quarter of its value -- in three years may give Shriners no other choice but to shrink the 22-hospital system to save it.

At the group's annual meeting on Monday in Minneapolis, 1,400 Shrine representatives are scheduled to vote on closing the hospital there.

Officials at the Shriners International headquarters in Tampa said the Minneapolis hospital was used less than others. They said that up to eight other hospitals could close or take other cost-cutting measures.

[mnehring]

Ping

[mnehring]

A charity worth donating to.
http://support.shrinershospitals.org/site/PageServer?pagename=HowYouCanHelp

[Resolute Conservative]

I talked to a Shriner a while back and he told me how much it cost a day to run one of their hospitals. Amazing, these guys work hard to get enough donations to cover the costs.

[Skooz]

A charity worth donating to.

I'll bump to that.

[uglybiker]

Thanks for the PING mnehrling!

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[WOBBLY BOB]

no thanks in part to leftist people-haters:

“Shriners threaten to leave town if City Council approves changes to circus animal ordinance. “

http://www.startribune.com/local/14944041.html

[bd476]

Thanks for the Ping, Uglybiker. This is sad news.

[WakeUpAndVote]

Thanks for the ping.

[DManA]

More and more the attitude is let the government do it.

[Doctor Raoul]

Damn.

[TASMANIANRED]

Shame...they have done exemplary work over the years.

[TheThirdRuffian]

Donation sent.

(And I am not a Shriner.)

[C19fan]

an endowment that has lost $2 billion -- a quarter of its value -- in three years

Did Shriners go big on subprime Mortgage Back Securities or financial stocks? That's horrible investment performance.

[mnehring]

No, they just run so many hospitals and as expenses increase while donations increase, that money dries up quickly. You would be shocked how much it costs to run a hospital, especially a hospital that provides services free, therefore all its operating expenses must be covered by donations. (BTW, it is my understanding that the Shriner’s hospitals also don't take government grants.)

For example, here are the financials from the Tampa Shriners Hospital.

http://www.guidestar.org/pqShowGsReport.do?npoId=262546&partner=justgive

[OSTATE]

It is with great sadness I see the decline in numbers of my Masonic Brothers. A man man take a few big steps in his life and Masonic Light being one of them.

Those of you who have contemplated joining I urge you to do so. Becoming a Mason will not make a bad man good but it will make a good man better.

[snowman1]

I’ve been a SHRINER for over 30 years and one of my greatest joys for a long time has been to be a driver of the vans that deliver the kids to the TWIN CITIES Hospital and the joy I see when they come back whole again. This past weekend I had the honor to be part of a motorcycle poker run that raised over $4000 for the transpotation fund. And this was from people who were not Shriners but know of our work.

[Chode]

just damn...

[NCBraveheart]

And a**holes like moveon.org can raise gobs of cash. How screwed up is that?

[DieHard the Hunter]

> Those of you who have contemplated joining I urge you to do so. Becoming a Mason will not make a bad man good but it will make a good man better.

Copy that. Freemasonry is one of the best things that has ever happened to me.

I am a devout and committed Christian and have found that Freemasonry has greatly assisted my sense of Spirituality and has re-enforced all of the lessons that Our Lord sought to teach us. And the marvelous thing is that it can greatly enhance and complement the spirituality and ethics of good men of any religious persuasion.

If you have ever considered becoming a Freemason, you need only ask one in order to be told how it is done.

Ask me, if you like.

And in any event, consider supporting the Shriners. I do not belong to that side-degree, and indeed I know very little about them as they do not appear to be active in New Zealand where I live: but the Good that they do is self-evident and it is a crying shame that they need to countenance shutting down their hospitals because of rising costs.

*DieHard the MM*