Dive Brief:
- Catholic Health Initiatives reported an operating income loss of $35.3 million in the third quarter of 2018, more than double the loss from the same time period the year before.
- The Englewood, Colorado-based nonprofit health system said net income for the three months ending March 31 was down 0.3%, or $12.3 million, compared to a 4.4% increase ($178.2 million) in the third quarter of 2017.
- Outpatient visits, acute admissions and acute inpatient days all declined for the quarter, but physician visits were up 5.8%, according to CHI’s report.
Dive Insight:
The health system said it continues to execute its financial improvement plan, and saw restructuring and impairment costs decline in Q3. “We continue to see strong momentum that has played out in the current fiscal year,” CFO Dean Swindle said in a statement. “We have established a strong foundation through a performance-improvement plan stretching back nearly three years, and we expect that these positive results will continue throughout the rest of this fiscal year and well beyond as we become a truly high-performing health system.”
CHI’s proposed merger with Dignity Health, which would create the largest nonprofit system based on operating revenue, still awaits regulatory approval, but is expected to close later this year. The transition of Kentucky One facilities to the University of Louisville Medical Center was completed last year, while the sale of other Louisville properties continues.
CHI posted operating EBIDA of $249 million in Q3 of 2018, down from $260 million in the same quarter of 2017.
Meanwhile, for-profit health systems have seen modest gains in their recent earnings reports. HCA Healthcare and Universal Health Services each reported at least slight increases in revenue and admissions. Community Health Systems, which is the midst of big divestiture strategy, saw operating revenue and volumes declines, but did beat analyst expectations. Earlier this month, Lifepoint Health reported a slight net loss as well as decreased total admissions.