Dive Brief:
- Summa Health expects to lose about $35 million this year after a profitable third quarter, Modern Healthcare reports. The Akron, Ohio-based health system had previously said 2017 could end with a $60 million loss.
- Interim President and CEO Cliff Deveny said Summa had a $2.5 million operating profit and overall bottom line of about $4 million in the period ended Sept. 30.
- Deveny attributed the good news to an uptick in outpatient and emergency room visits and surgeries, as well as medical group appointments and testing.
Dive Insight:
Summa has been on a roller coaster over the past year, going from a $30 million profit in 2016 to a more than $33 million loss in the first half of this year.
In June, officials announced the company would shed 300 positions and scale back services. Half of the positions set to be cut were already empty.
Summa’s been on uncertain ground since its former CEO, Thomas Malone, resigned early in the year over his decision not to renew the contract of the emergency physicians group that had been providing care at Summa Akron City Hospital’s ER for decades. Physicians had also complained they weren't consulted about major changes affecting patient care.
Summa is far from the only health system dealing with financial struggles this year. Both for-profit and nonprofit systems are seeing earnings slump as patient volumes shrink and reimbursement sags.
Catholic Health Initiatives posted a $77.9 million operating loss in its fiscal year 2018 first quarter, ended Sept. 30, but cited positive trends in supply and labor costs. Quorum Health also reported a loss in its 2017 third quarter —$29.2 million versus $7 million in the same period last year. The Brentwood, Tenn.-based system plans more divestitures to help work down debt.