Pennsylvania hospital income continues to fall
The statewide total margin realized by Pennsylvania's 167 general acute care hospitals decreased by 2.62 percentage points in Fiscal Year 2009, falling from 4.70 percent in FY08 to 2.08 percent in FY09. According to figures released by the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council, the bulk of the $865 million decrease in statewide net income was the result of a $764 million decline in non-operating income - from a positive $252 million in FY08 to a negative $512 million in FY09.
Tenet reports first quarter earnings boost
Tenet Healthcare Corporation reported an increase in first quarter earnings of 7.2 percent over the first quarter of 2009. Dallas-based Tenet revealed an adjusted EBITDA of $298 million for the quarter ending March 31, 2010, an increase of $20 million as compared to $278 million for the same period in 2009. Tenet's net operating revenues increased by $77 million, or 3.4 percent. Tenet Healthcare is one of the largest for-profit healthcare delivery systems in the nation with 49 acute care hospitals in 11 states.
New York health system touts financial assistance service
North Shore-LIJ Health System has launched a new online service to help patients find out the cost of medical services in advance and learn how to get help with paying their hospital bills. The "Financial Help" web site, accessible from North Shore-LIJ's home page, is designed to help patients understand their hospital bills and estimate the out-of-pocket cost of common inpatient and outpatient medical services provided at North Shore-LIJ facilities across the metropolitan New York area, including 14 hospitals on Long Island, Queens and Staten Island.
Seismic problems at Calif. hospitals
More than 200 of California's 400 acute care hospitals still have buildings that are in danger of collapse during an earthquake and must be replaced by 2013, according to a new report. This information comes from the latest issue of California Hospital Facts & Figures, an overview of the state's general acute care facilities that accounted for nearly 90 percent of the state's 512 hospitals in 2007. The analysis also discovered that the number of general acute care hospitals in California decreased 4 percent between 2001 and 2007, while the state's population increased nearly 10 percent.