The Jacksonville, FL Chamber of Congress met recently to discuss the troubling situation the economy is placing on local hospitals. The dramatic increase in the number of people who cannot pay their hospital bills, as a result of having no insurance and many people seeking emergency care for non-emergency issues, may force some hospitals to shut their doors. Shands has already announced that it plans to close it’s Gainesville, FL facility in an effort to cut down on the budget. Many of the hospitals patients use Medicaid or Medicare, and many more people are enrolled in Medicare than ever before, which means hospitals are getting shortchanged as the government is unable to reimburse them for all of their expenses. Many hospitals are struggling through these times by laying off employees and forgoing the purchase of new equipment. Will hospitals be able to survive this economic crisis?