The nation’s hospitals continued to face many challenges in 2003, including the increasing costs of providing care to patients, rising demand for care, workforce shortages, caring for those without health insurance given the rising number of uninsured, emergency readiness preparedness and soaring medical liability insurance premiums—as reflected in the results of the latest American Hospital Association (AHA) Annual Survey.  Among continuing trends, the survey reports hospitals’ financial health remained fragile, with roughly one-third of America’s hospitals operating in the red.  Overall, payments failed to keep pace with the cost of caring for patients, causing operating margins to decline.  However, while ...