The NY Times takes aim at University Hospital in Syracuse.

Despite data that show that it ranks low in hospital-acquired infections and provides expensive, low-quality care, the hospital remains open.

It has been recommended that the hospital shrink, or merge with another. But instead of doing so, it has expanded.

The difficulty lies in the fact that hospitals are major employers of the city. Any type of closure or merger would lead to significant job losses, and thus, fought ferociously by both the community and the unions.

A strong piece – Syracuse’s medical community can’t be happy about the negative publicity – that illustrates how hard it will be to cut health spending.