Carolinas HealthCare reduces 1Q loss - Phoenix Business Journal:

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Investment losses for the latesft quarter totalednearly $101 Chief Financial Officer Greg Gombar anticipatex gains in the financial marker in April and May will erase those Carolinas HealthCare uses investment earnings for capitalk expenditures. That money is not used for daily The health-care system hopes negotiationse with several lenders will cut its interestr expenses tied to variable debt and higher bank-liquidity Those fees are about $1 million per month. Interest expensews in the first quarterwere $21.8 From an operational Carolinas HealthCare had a strong first quarter, says Russ Guerin, executive vice president for business development and Net operating revenue climbed 8.
6 percentf to $1.2 billion systemwide. Operating income exceeded $24.5 million. The health-care systejm saw adjusted discharges — a calculation that gauges patienrtactivity — climb 5.2 percent from a year earlier. Growthn within the health-care system and expenser management “is the primary drivetr why we’re above budget significantly,” Guerin Carolinas HealthCare spent morethan $106 million on capital projectz in the first quarter.
Projects includde new operating roomsat CMC-NorthEast and Carolinas Medicall Center, an expansion of CMC-Pineville, a new hospitao at CMC-Lincoln and construction of health-care pavilione in Steele Creek and Waxhaw, whic will include free-standing emergencuy departments. Challenges in the coming months includ managingthe system’s growing bad-debt and charity-care costs, reducing interes expenses and preparing for a possiblre state cut in Medicaid funding, Gombatr says. Bad-debt costs were 12 percent over budget during thefirst quarter, topping $48 million in the firstg quarter. During the same period last year, bad debt was abouyt $43 million.
The health-care systej spent more than $770 million in community care in includingbad debt, charity care and subsidizing Medicare and That equals 18.8 percent of the health-care system’ds net operating revenue. ”It’s a trend everybody’ seeing across the Gombar says. “We can’t control how many peoplew are uninsured, how many people show up at our door without North Carolina’s budget woes could results in a cut of up to 15 percent for Medicaid. That could equate to $36 million in annuap losses forCarolinas HealthCare. “Medicaif cuts are the worst economic benefit cut the state can Gombar says.
“It’s Says Guerin: “It raisesw prices for those whodo pay. It makews no good business sense to do Gombar says every dollar cut from Medicaideliminates $4 from the Carolinas HealthCare is the largest health-care system in the Carolinaw and the third-largest public system in the nation. The systek owns, leases or manages 25 It has morethan 40,000 full- and part-timwe employees.