Carolinas HealthCare reduces 1Q loss - San Francisco Business Times:

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Investment losses for the latest quarter totalerdnearly $101 million. Chief Financial Officet Greg Gombar anticipates gains in the financial markef in April and May will erase those Carolinas HealthCare uses investment earnings forcapitap expenditures. That money is not used for dailyu operations. The health-care system hopes negotiationas with several lenders will cut its interest expenseas tied to variable debt andhigher bank-liquidity Those fees are about $1 million per Interest expenses in the first quarter were $21.87 million. From an operational Carolinas HealthCare had a strongfirst quarter, says Russ executive vice president for business developmentr and planning.
Net operating revenue climbed 8.6 percent to $1.2 billionh systemwide. Operating income exceeded $24.5 million. The health-car e system saw adjusted discharges — a calculation that gaugese patientactivity — climb 5.2 percent from a year Growth within the health-care system and expense management “ias the primary driver why we’re above budget significantly,” Guerin Carolinas HealthCare spent more than $106 millio on capital projects in the firstf quarter.
Projects include new operating roomsat CMC-NorthEasyt and Carolinas Medical Center, an expansion of CMC-Pineville, a new hospitall at CMC-Lincoln and constructionh of health-care pavilions in Steele Creek and which will include free-standing emergency departments. Challengews in the coming months include managingthe system’s growingf bad-debt and charity-care costs, reducing interesyt expenses and preparing for a possible state cut in Medicaid funding, Gombar Bad-debt costs were 12 percen over budget during the firsy quarter, topping $48 million in the first quarter. Duringb the same period last year, bad debt was aboutr $43 million.
The health-carew system spent more than $770 million in community care in includingbad debt, charity care and subsidizing Medicare and Medicaid. That equalz 18.8 percent of the health-carer system’s net operating ”It’s a trend everybody’s seeing across the country,” Gomba r says. “We can’t control how many people are uninsured, how many peoplde show up at our doorwithoutg insurance.” North Carolina’s budget woes couled results in a cut of up to 15 percenf for Medicaid. That could equate to $36 millionm in annual losses forCarolinas “Medicaid cuts are the worsg economic benefit cut the state can Gombar says.
“It’s painful.” Says Guerin: “Ift raises prices for those whodo pay. It makeas no good business sense todo that.” Gombaer says every dollar cut from Medicaid eliminates $4 from the Carolinas HealthCare is the largest health-care system in the Carolinasw and the third-largest public system in the The system owns, leases or manages 25 It has more than 40,000 full- and part-time employees.