AORN journal
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Historical Article
A historical perspective of the effect of the great recession on hospitals.
At 18 months, the Great Recession of December 2007 to June 2009 is the longest recession since World War II. The recession led to soaring unemployment, resulting in loss of employment-based health insurance for millions of people. ⋯ The recession is officially over, and, although economic recovery has been slow and unemployment continues to be an issue, hospitals' net revenue started improving as of 2009 and hospital construction started increasing in 2010. Still, caution is warranted in the postrecession climate, because it is unknown what effects will be seen when the Baby Boomer generation begins using Medicare.