Dive Brief:
- Quorum Health continued to improve its financials during the fourth quarter of 2017, posting a net loss of $27 million versus $91 million in the same period a year ago.
- Revenue held steady year-over-year at $515 million, according to preliminary financial results released this week.
- The Brentwood, Tennessee-based hospital system, a spin-off of Community Health Systems, is targeting up to $253 million in divestitures over the next year to two years as it continues to shed low-performing hospitals and focus on sustainable markets.
Dive Insight:
In 2015, CHS spun off 38 hospitals in rural and mid-size markets in 16 states into an independent company. That company, Quorum Health, has since sold eight hospitals, netting a total of $47 million as of March 1.
Since Dec. 31, the company has entered into a definitive agreement to sell 77-bed Clearview Regional Medical Center in Georgia, completed the sale of 70-bed Vista Medical Center West in Illinois and closed 156-bed Affinity Medical Center in Ohio.
During the quarter, Quorum also made strides in collecting outstanding payments in Illinois and California — a factor cited in revenue losses in the third quarter of last year.
Quorum collected $51 million of about $65 million due for medical care provided to Illinois Medicaid and state employee patients. It also received $31 million of the $50 million owed to it from the California Hospital Quality Assurance Fee program.
Net loss for full year totaled $112 million, down from $345 million in 2016.
“Due to timing of regulatory approval, the Company was unable to realize approximately $2 million of net operating revenues from the Medicare Low Volume Hospital adjustment associated with the fourth quarter of 2017, which will not be recorded in the first quarter of 2018,” Quorum said. “When annualized, this adjustment represents an $8 to $10 million benefit to net operating revenues.”