City Council Approves $490K to Support Alexandria Hospital’s Neonatal and Obstetrics Units
ALEXANDRIA, VA-On Tuesday, May 27, The Alexandria City Council approved the release of contingent reserve funds to Alexandria Hospital to support its neonatal and obstetrics units. The funds, amounting to $490,000, will be drawn from the City of Alexandria’s Fiscal Year 2025 budget.
Dr. Rina Bansal, President of Inova Alexandria Hospital, and Melissa Riddy, Director of Government & Community Relations for Inova Health System’s eastern region Melissa Riddy at the Legislative Meeting. They gave a presentation outlining the hospital’s need for the funding, citing increasing unreimbursed costs for treating Medicaid, uninsured, and underinsured patients.
“Nearly one-third of our OB volume consists of Medicaid and underinsured/uninsured patients,” Riddy said.
In 2024, 1,727 Medicaid, underinsured, or uninsured patients received obstetric care at Inova Alexandria Hospital, a 6.4% increase since 2023. Overall, the volume of patients receiving obstetrics care increased by 5.8%.
This increase has led to Inova Alexandria Hospital absorbing higher costs that remain unreimbursed. In 2024, the total unreimbursed costs for the care of Medicaid, underinsured, or uninsured patients in the obstetric and neonatal care department was $3.5 million. Even with partial reimbursement from the Virginia Medicaid program, they were still operating at a loss.
However, this increase in patient volume or costs has not created any capacity challenges or compromised the hospital’s ability to provide care.
“From an OB perspective we’ve actually seen a decrease in overall delivery rates by 10%, so although this patient population is increasing, the overall delivery rate nationally is going down, so no capacity challenges, and we are providing the care for all of these patients without any impact from a financial perspective,” Bansal explained.
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