Miami’s public hospitals, where treatment is provided to South Florida’s poor and sick people, have recently incurred heavy financial loss. The hospitals’ group has planned to pave an alleviation plan so they can maintain integral services through the end of September.

This plan would lead Jackson Health System to cut down 655 positions, delay debt payments and possibly try to extract $30 million in concessions from unions. Comparatively, the previous proposed plan was to close two hospitals and lay off nearly 4,500 workers.

Former County Manager and an Acting Unofficial Adviser to the Jackson system Merrett R. Stierheim believes that “The current way of doing business is unsustainable”.

With job losses and tax increases, experts believe that it’s sure to shrivel down the Jackson System. Its efforts also reflects conditions at public hospitals in New York, Atlanta and other cities where serving the poor who cannot pay is weighing down the providers.

Linda Quick, President of the South Florida Hospital and Healthcare Association, believes that getting people making $50,000 to $60,000 a year to buy insurance and not walk out on their bill would surely help but not sufficient to prevent cuts at Jackson’s five hospitals or nursing homes.

The Thursday reports said that the despite of the approval of the plan, the Jackson System would still incur a loss of $130 million this year, with next year being worse.

This news shattered down a lot of workers, while the patients fear that their treatment would be poorly affected.