
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, June 25, 1993                   TAG: 9306250282
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Short

VA. HOSPITAL COSTS RISE 10%

The average cost of a hospital stay in Virginia increased by more than 10 percent last year but still remained slightly below the national average, health officials said Thursday.

The Virginia Health Services Cost Review Council said in its annual report that the average cost per stay increased 10.6 percent, to $4,874. The average cost per day went up 10.3 percent, to $700.79.

The national average was $5,226 per stay and $725 per day.

However, the report says Virginia hospital costs will exceed the national average by 1996 if increases are left unchecked.

The state's acute-care hospitals showed a 27 percent increase in operating margins or profits over 1991. Figures in the 1992 report indicate that the hospitals will accumulate more than $1 billion in profits from 1990 through 1993.

Between 1987 and 1991, the average profit per admission in Virginia hospitals increased 47.6 percent. The national average was 39.5 percent.

Secretary of Health and Human Resources Howard Cullum said the figures reflect a need for stricter health-care cost controls.

by CNB