By ANDY GARDNER

North Country This Week

MASSENA -- A payment Massena Memorial Hospital received from the sale of one of their insurance providers reduced what would have been a one-month loss of nearly three-quarters of a million dollars to just under $15,000.

MMH CFO Pat Facteau said the hospital's malpractice insurance provider, Medical Liability Mutual Insurance Company (MLMIC), was sold to Berkshire Hathaway and some policyholders, including Massena, received cash payments as a result.

MMH got $2.3 million, which they are dividing into their October, November and December budgets.

Because of that, MMH ended October with a $14,909 net loss. That contrasts with September, a month they ended $1.2 million in the red.

Reduced inpatient admissions continue to be a problem for the hospital, officials said. An October financial and statistical summary shows 128 inpatient discharges for the month, down about one third from 191 the same month last year. Year to date, MMH has logged 1,550 inpatient discharges, down from 1,933 during the same period last year.

Their clinical visits are far above last year, with 49,110 visits so far this year, about 37 percent above the 35,841 for the same period in 2017, the financial summary says.