Although DHMC's $400-million investment portfolio lost 25 percent over a 10-month period, Aldous said, the center remains financially sound.
"Right now, DHMC is financially stable," Aldous said. "We're able to go forward with raises. We'll have to defer them for a few months, but our picture is not bleak."
DHMC, which normally raises salaries in April, will still conduct its annual staff review, which determines salary increases, in March, Aldous said.
"The deferral of raises until June gives us a tremendous amount of flexibility in managing our budget in the short term," Aldous said. "Basically, the deferral translates into about a $5 million short-term savings for us. We don't know if we'll need that or not, but that will keep us on pace with meeting our budget goals for the year while still being able to give our employees a reasonable raise."
DHMC will evaluate all expenditures to determine if they are "mission critical," or if they can be deferred for the short term, Aldous said. Development of a new outpatient surgery system, for example, will continue as planned, he said.
While the College uses interest from its endowment to help cover its operating expenses, DHMC relies largely on revenue from patient services, which comes primarily in the form of Medicaid, Aldous said.
If New Hampshire state officials move forward with plans to address budget gaps by redirecting Medicaid funds, he added, DHMC will have to find other sources of revenue to recover the lost funding, which could amount to $7 million.
Although DHMC is carefully examining all new hiring, it has yet to institute a hiring freeze or lay off any staff members, Aldous said.
"Not that any new job or full-time equivalent request isn't important, but some are ones that can be deferred to a little bit later, and some are vital to supplying needed service," Aldous said. "We are evaluating each new hire on a case-by-case basis."
Dartmouth Medical School professor Dale Collins, director of the Comprehensive Breast Program at DHMC, said most staff members she has spoken with said they were grateful to have retained their jobs and are sensitive to the layoffs at the College and DMS. She added that the raise deferral is "completely appropriate" given the economic uncertainty.
"I think that the medical center has done a really good job with planning," Collins said. "I have my sense of security that they're taking the appropriate steps given the economy: They're being cautious, but also moving forward."
Her department will continue with plans for a new electronic medical record system, Collins said.
Charles Carr '79 DMS '81, director of DHMC sports medicine and head team physician for the College, said the physicians in his department have yet to feel the impact of the economic recession.
"I think health care, at least our portion of health care, hasn't been impacted significantly yet," Carr said.
The orthopedics department has expanded significantly over the past four to five years and has since hit a "steady state," Carr said. As his department is not seeking to expand, Carr said he does not think the economic downturn will affect staffing levels.
Aldous said DHMC has not seen a significant drop in patient volume, likely because the medical center deals primarily with acutely ill patients. The illnesses treated at DHMC are approximately twice as severe as those treated by nearby hospitals, he said.
"We're treating the sickest adults and children in the state," he said. "That's part of the reason we've been able to weather [the economic uncertainty]. It's a sad thing, but we've been able to be kind of steady because people don't have the option of deferring care."
The economic difficulties have not affected the quality of patient care, Aldous said.
