It’s costing more to be sick

Officials say inflation, baby boomer patients driving up hospital stay prices

Tess Hannapel, Times-News Intern

CUMBERLAND — The price of staying in a hospital is rising and health care officials say they are constantly looking for ways to help cut costs.

Kathy Rogers, director of community relations for the Western Maryland Health System, said part of the reason for increased health care costs is standard inflation.

“In health care, there’s a tendency for costs to rise over the inflation rate, such as medical supplies, medication and the cost of technology,” she said.

However, Rogers said WMHS is always looking for ways to reduce costs or at least slow down the increases.

“We have a process called Lean Six Sigma,” she said. “Basically we look at hospital processes to see where we can improve quality by becoming more efficient.”