Doc warns of health care shortage from NJ cuts to teaching hospitals

By: Tom MacDonald

The New Jersey Assembly Budget Committee held its first budget hearing on Tuesday.

By: Tom MacDonald
tmacdonald@whyy.org

The New Jersey Assembly Budget Committee held its first budget hearing on Tuesday.
Caption: Budget Committee Chair Louis Greenwald

Transcript:
The committee will hold three hearings on the budget over the next few weeks. This hearing focused on health care, human services and children’s issues in the state. Dr J. Richard Goldstein is President of the NJ Council of Teaching Hospitals. He says an $8 million funding cut to teaching hospitals could create a critical physician shortage in the state.

Goldstein: “Couple the $8 million cut announced in the proposed budget coupled with the greying of our population, universal health reform raising demand, and shorter work weeks for newly minted doctors and you have the recipe for a sustained access problem reaching 2,800 too few doctors in just 10 years.”

Budget Committee Chair Louis Greenwald says the budget presented by the governor earlier this month is a blueprint, and will be revised as the budget process continues.

Listen:
Click on the play button below or right click on this link and choose “Save Link As” to download. [audio: sci20090324budget.mp3]