Articles for Geoff Kelly

Apr 28

2020

Buffalo facing big budget deficit

 City Hall is facing the prospect of a COVID-19-induced budget deficit of $20 million to $31 million, with limited reserves to close the gap. A combination of increased expenses and lost revenues will cost city government an estimated $20 million, according to a report filed by Finance Commissioner Donna Estrich.  An additional $11 million in anticipated casino revenues is also at risk, given the closure of casinos during the pandemic and continued legal stalemate between the state and Seneca Nation. Meanwhile, Mayor Byron Brown’s administration is preparing a budget for the new fiscal year that begins July 1, knowing[...]

Posted 4 years ago

Apr 24

2020

Hospital workers cope with virus, furloughs

Nurses and other employees at local hospitals are facing a double whammy these days: furloughs and increasing COVID-19 infections. An investigative Post survey of a dozen hospitals, including those run by Kaleida Health and Catholic Health, finds that infections among their staffs have doubled in the past two weeks. The count also includes Erie County Medical Center and Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center.  The updated total stands at 356, double that of two weeks ago. About a dozen employees a day are testing positive, a number that hasn’t fluctuated much in recent weeks. The good news: nearly two-thirds of those[...]

Posted 4 years ago

Apr 22

2020

Kaleida, losing big money, seeks furloughs

Kaleida Health, the region’s largest health-care system, is asking hundreds of employees to take voluntary, month-long furloughs beginning April 26. Exempt are doctors, nurses and other employees who are treating patients infected with COVID-19. Kaleida, like other hospital and health-care providers, has been hammered by the material costs of fighting the COVID-19 epidemic. And it has been deprived of its most lucrative revenue streams while doing so. Three weeks ago, Kaleida spokesman Michael Hughes told Investigative Post that the impact of the coronavirus on the system’s finances was “going to be ugly.” In a press release announcing the furlough program,[...]

Posted 4 years ago

Apr 19

2020

Delayed Wi-Fi project shortchanges students

It’s a problem that was meant to have been solved months ago, at least for two impoverished Buffalo neighborhoods. Lack of reliable internet access in low-income households puts thousands of Buffalo public school students at an educational disadvantage. So last summer the school district hired a local IT company with a troubling track record to provide free, fast Wi-Fi to approximately 5,500 students on the city’s East and West Sides. The “Connected Communities” project was scheduled for completion by January. That’s two months before the COVID-19 shutdown made home internet access a critical issue for students and teachers trying to[...]

Posted 4 years ago

Apr 10

2020

More than 175 health-care workers have virus

 Updated at 5:14 p.m. At least 176 doctors, nurses and other health-care workers at the region’s three largest health-care providers have tested positive for COVID-19.  That’s more than 10 percent of the total confirmed cases in Erie and Niagara counties. Kaleida Health, the region’s largest health-care provider, has reported the most infections, 103, as of Wednesday, according to a document obtained by Investigative Post. Eight of those are doctors; the rest are nurses and other staff. Kaleida spokesman Michael Hughes confirmed that number, adding that Kaleida has tested more than 600 employees so far. The total at Kaleida has[...]

Posted 4 years ago

Apr 8

2020

COVID-19: Transit, airport use tumbles

As one might expect, the COVID-19 shutdown has dramatically cut the number of people traveling by air and public transit. Indeed, the numbers are stark. Just a month ago, 6,000 to 7,000 passengers flew in and out of Buffalo Niagara International Airport each day. Now, it’s fewer than 1,000, according to figures provided by the Niagara Frontier Transit Authority.  Ridership on NFTA buses and light-rail trains is also down, by around three-quarters. Train ridership has been especially hard hit, as downtown businesses and government buildings have shut down to all but essential employees and officials have discouraged in-person interactions with[...]

Posted 4 years ago

Apr 6

2020

Kelly: COVID-19 a “body blow” to hospitals

Geoff Kelly reported Friday that the pandemic has drained hospitals of revenues while driving up costs. Medical practices both big and small are also hurting financially. Listen to his interview Monday morning with Susan Rose on WBEN.  

Posted 4 years ago

Apr 2

2020

Health care providers hemorrhaging money

Western New York’s hospitals were in dire financial shape coming into 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic  — with the attendant costs in equipment, staffing and, perhaps most damagingly, lost revenue — is going to compound their problems.  “It’s going to be ugly,” Kaleida spokesman Michael Hughes told Investigative Post in an email. It’s not just hospitals that will feel the pain, either. Primary care practices, clinics and other medical service providers, their business greatly diminished by the shutdown, all are facing pay cuts, layoffs and even closure.  The $2.2 trillion federal CARES Act, passed last week by Congress, includes a $100[...]

Posted 4 years ago
Investigative Post

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