Report details hospital price hikes

Between 2003 and 2005, Poudre Valley Hospital boosted by 41.2 percent its average charges for the five most common reasons patients are hospitalized.

And while the price rise does not put PVH’s charges substantially above those at other hospitals in Northern Colorado, it does lay to rest the hospital’s long-standing claim to being the undisputed low-cost hospital in the region.

Data released in late August by the Colorado Health and Hospitals Association showed the PVH increase was nearly double that of Northern Colorado Medical Center in Greeley, at 21.0 percent. It also topped the Denver- metro hospital average increase of 23.4 percent…