Dive Brief:
- Sutter Health had a staggering loss of $857 million in the first half of the year as the Northern California health was bruised by the pandemic. That's almost a $1.4 billion drop in income compared to the first half of last year, a plummet Sutter management largely blamed on investment and operational losses in its latest financial filing posted Thursday.
- The virus shuttered operations for a period of time, driving Sutter's revenue down 8% to $6.1 billion during the first half of the year. Expenses climbed nearly 2%, contributing to an operating loss of $557 million.
- Still, the nonprofit noted it did experience a significant rebound in its investments in the second quarter after weathering the devastating effects of the first quarter.
Dive Insight:
Sutter joins other major nonprofit health systems in posting net losses for the first half of the year despite receiving hundreds of millions in federal grants to help offset headwinds brought on by the pandemic.
Recently, both Renton, Washington-based Providence and Arizona-based Banner Health posted losses for the first half of the year — $538 million and $267 million, respectively. Dampened revenue and downturns in investments contributed to their losses.
The federal government has funneled billions of dollars to providers across the country in an attempt to help them weather the downturn in patient volumes. Sutter noted in its filing that it's received $400 million in federal relief funds so far, though that wasn't enough to push the health system back into the black. Sutter operates 29 hospitals and enjoys a large presence in Northern California.
Sutter reported fewer admissions and emergency room visits in the second quarter compared to the prior-year period, down about 10% and 19%, respectively.
The pandemic was quick to wreak havoc on Sutter's finances during the first quarter, in which the system reported an operating loss of $236 million and a net loss of almost $1.1 billion.
The coronavirus is also serving as a drag on its ratings. In April, two of the three big ratings agencies downgraded Sutter Health's rating.
In part, Moody's attributed the downgrade to Sutter's weaker profitability profile. In its rationale, Moody's said, "Following a second year of weaker results, margins in 2020 are likely to remain under pressure due to COVID-19 related disruptions, ongoing performance challenges at some of Sutter's facilities, and continued reimbursement pressure."
Also weighing on Moody's rating is the $575 million settlement expected to be paid this year to resolve antitrust issues. Last year, the health system averted a trial over antitrust concerns after agreeing to a settlement with California regulators. Sutter agreed it would end any contracts that require all of its facilities to be in-network or none of them and cap out-of-network charges, among other stipulations.