Dive Brief:
- Community Health Systems eked out a $6 million second-quarter profit, down from $70 million during the same quarter last year, as the system sought to entice patients back for care not related to COVID-19, according to financial documents released Wednesday.
- Jefferies analyst said in a Thursday note they have a positive view on the results, especially a jump in surgeries and "healthy organic growth trends." Still, the stock was down about 8% in morning trading.
- CHS revenues for the quarter rose to $3 billion, beating Wall Street expectations and jumping about 19% from $2.5 billion during the same time last year.
Dive Insight:
CHS is the latest for-profit operator to report a volume rebound during the second quarter as COVID-19 cases declined and non-COVID-19 patients returned to medical settings. But stalling vaccination rates and rising cases of the delta variant could throw the recoveries off track.
But on a Thursday call with investors CHS executives downplayed concerns about the highly transmissible delta variant, saying they were confident in "the ability of our teams to safely and effectively manage COVID surges, while also meeting the increasing demand for our services and to meet the healthcare needs of non-COVID patient."
In the second quarter, CHS admissions on a same-store basis increased 17% compared with the prior year period, and adjusted admissions rose 28.5%.
Expenses in the second quarter rose to $2.69 billion, compared with $2.2 billion during the same time last year.
The Franklin, Tennessee-based chain leases or operates 84 affiliated hospitals in 16 states and completed a years long divestiture plan last year, though said it continues to receive interest and may consider selling additional hospitals.
The system has come under fire recently as patients are being sued during the pandemic for past due bills. In some instances, the patients are being sued even though the hospitals have since been sold, according to reports.
Other for-profit hospital chains have reported profits this quarter and noted increasing volumes. Other C-suite teams have expressed more concern about the delta variant's potential to drain resources, especially the staffing pipeline.
At the end of last year, CHS finished off posting a $511 million profit.