South Jersey hospital officials are bracing for the effects of the Affordable Care Act, with some planning staffing cuts due to fewer patients visiting their emergency rooms and others hiring more doctors, according to an article on the Press of Atlantic City website.

Southern Ocean Medical Center, in Ocean County’s Stafford Township, is already seeing a decrease in emergency-room use, as more patients gain access to health insurance and use primary-care physicians, according to Joseph Coyle, president of the medical center.

But if more people have health insurance, they are going to need more primary-care physicians, Coyle said in the article. 

Under the federal health insurance marketplace program, more people will be accessing physicians and healthcare as they get access to health insurance, said Steven Blumberg, senior vice president and executive director of AtlantiCare Health Solutions.

“That should have a positive impact on economics for the hospital if it bears out this way that more people will be insured,” Blumberg said. “We prefer them to have a relationship there as opposed to the ER, which is expensive and not the place to receive primary care.” 

Read the article.