Both Erlanger Health System and Hutcheson Medical Center on Monday reported profits from operations in January.
Chief Financial Officer Britt Tabor reported that Erlanger posted a $541,232 gain for the month of January, compared to a $2.1 million loss the same month last fiscal year. Losses from operations stand at $1.9 million versus $12.4 million a year ago, a $10.5 million improvement.
“I am extremely pleased to report we are now $10 million ahead of where we were this time last year, particularly since Erlanger also provided more than $45 million in uncompensated care to this community the past seven months,” Mr.
Tabor told trustees.
Admissions were only slightly under budget for the month (1.7 percent), but exceeded the previous year by 6.7 percent.
Physician practice outpatient visits were up by more than four percent and 9.5 percent greater than last year.
Cath lab procedures in January were 2.3 percent over budget and more than 38 percent greater than last year. Inpatient heart/thoracic surgeries were up by 7.5 percent and almost five percent higher than last year.
Helicopter patients were 22.3 percent under budget. During the month of January, weather conditions led to 116 missed flights, officials said.
Emergency room visits were slightly down at 1.2 percent, but 3.8 percent higher than last January. Emergency room admissions were up at both the Baroness and Children’s Hospitals by 4.4 percent, an increase of 6.7 percent over last year.
Surgical inpatient volume was slightly down at 4.2 percent, but nine percent higher than last year and 15 percent greater than December. Surgical mix was 30.4 percent for the month, compared to 25 percent in December.
Total surgical outpatient volume was 9.7 percent under budget. Outpatient surgeries at the Baroness Campus exceeded budget by one percent and were 14.4 percent higher than last fiscal year. Outpatient surgeries at Children’s Hospital were down by almost 40 percent in January.
DaVinci surgical procedures were up by 50 percent compared to December, and 58 percent higher than last January.
Erlanger’s charity care, as a percent of gross patient revenue, was 8.21 percent compared to a budget of 10.58 percent which also contributed to January’s positive bottom line.
Hutcheson officials reported an overall system profit for January at Monday’s board of directors’ budget and finance committee meeting. The North Georgia health system began its fiscal year in October 2012 and has performed better than budgeted, officials said.
Hutcheson leadership reported that positive January earnings were $416,681, representing a $51,370 improvement over the January budget and a $1,399,634 improvement versus January 2012. Compared to last year, total inpatient discharges were up 22 percent, the hospital census was up 4 percent, total surgeries were up 17 percent, and visits to the Fuller Cancer Center were up 11 percent.
The emergency room experienced 2,790 patient visits, and officials reported an increase in the percentage of hospitalized patients with commercial insurance and Medicare as compared to last year.
“We are happy with our sustained progress,” stated Roger Forgey, president and CEO of Hutcheson Medical Center. “Year to date, we are ahead of budget and on our way to a positive fiscal year.”