Orange County’s largest hospitals have seen strong growth in pretax profits, boosted by a quadruple-digit increase at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian and a triple-digit jump for St. Joseph Hospital-Orange.
The gain came from a variety of factors as net patient revenue remained about flat at about $6.1 billion for the 12 months through September, according to this week’s Business Journal list.
The 30 largest hospitals in OC—many of which are operated by nonprofit organizations—combined for a 39% increase in pretax profits for the 12 months ended Sept. 30, for a total of $554 million.
The hospitals on last year’s list combined for a 13% increase.
Data on pretax profits and net patient revenue came from California’s Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development for most of the hospitals, with an estimate in one case.
Fourteen hospitals were profitable, while another 14 reported losses. There were two hostpitals the Business Journal did not have figures for.
The list is ranked by net patient revenue.
Seven hospitals reported double-digit revenue declines, compared with none a year ago.
Hospital employment grew 1% to 41,930 workers in January.
Hoag maintained the No. 1 rank, which it has held for the past several years. Hoag has campuses in Newport Beach and Irvine and is working to develop an integrated regional healthcare network with Orange-based St. Joseph Health. It had a 2.26% increase in revenue to $763.9 million.
Hoag’s pretax profit grew nearly 1,600% to $136.2 million. That compares with a big tumble last year, when pretax profits fell by 82% to $8.1 million.
“Results from ongoing operational efficiency efforts combined with solid investment performance resulted in marked improvement in our overall financial results,” said Jennifer Mitzner, Hoag’s chief financial officer.
The big percentage gain also came against a rugged stretch in terms of revenue during the prior 12-month period, when Hoag’s operations were still feeling the effects of the recent recession, according to spokesperson Nina Robinson.
UCI Medical
UCI Medical Center, a teaching hospital in Orange, was the list’s No. 2 entry for the fourth year in a row.
UCI’s net patient revenue was flat at $709.5 million. It saw a 76% decline in pretax profits, to $30.8 million.
The next three spots on the list were taken by local hospitals operated by Orange-based St. Joseph Health.
St. Joseph-Orange, ranked No. 3, saw its pretax profit jump 555% to about $57.6 million. Net patient revenue was essentially flat at $555.1 million.
St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton came in at No. 4. St. Jude’s pretax profit was up 112% to $80.1 million. Net patient revenue at the hospital fell 2% to $461 million.
No. 5 Mission Hospital’s pretax profit surged 106% to $56.5 million from $27.5 million a year ago. Mission’s net patient revenue was up 1% to $456.8 million. Mission’s figures include Mission Hospital Laguna Beach.
The jump in profits for the hospitals tracked to its parent organization’s investment portfolio, according to Darrin Montalvo, chief financial officer for St. Joseph Health.
CHOC
Children’s Hospital of Orange County, which will open a $560 million patient tower at the end of March (see page 29), came in at No. 7 on the list. Net patient revenue was up 28% to $443.6 million.
CHOC’s pretax profit fell 54% to $37.5 million.
Saddleback Memorial Medical Center, operated by Fountain Valley-based MemorialCare Health System, followed at No. 8. Saddleback Memorial saw its profit jump 68% to $36.9 million. Saddleback’s totals include its main Laguna Hills campus as well as a smaller satellite campus in San Clemente.
No. 9 Fountain Valley Regional Hospital & Medical Center saw its pretax profit fall 19% in the period to $22.4 million. The Tenet Healthcare Corp.-owned hospital reported a 3% drop in net patient revenue to $307.7 million.
Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center, also in Fountain Valley, rounded out the top 10.
Orange Coast’s profit fell 39% to $11.2 million. The hospital’s net patient revenue rose 2% to $240.1 million.
No. 28 Anaheim General Hospital posted the largest revenue jump. The Pacific Health Corp.-owned hospital saw a nearly 38% revenue gain, to $26.1 million. It posted a narrowed $10.9 million loss, down from about $52.8 million a year earlier.
Hospitals owned by Santa Ana-based Integrated Healthcare Holdings Inc. had the two largest drops in pretax profit during the 12-month period. No. 13 Western Medical Center-Santa Ana swung to a loss of $1.7 million from a profit of $3.2 million in the 12 months ended in September 2011. It had net patient revenue of $158.8 million, down 11%.
No. 18 Western Medical Center-Anaheim posted a loss of close to $5.7 million from a profit of $3.1 million in the earlier period ended in September 2011. It had net patient revenue of roughly $71.9 million, a decline of about 23%.
