Download the 2011 OC’s HOSPITALS list (pdf)
Orange County’s largest hospitals combined for a healthy increase in pretax net income last year, helped along by the economic recovery and gains on investment portfolios that help fund operating costs for many of them.
The county’s 30 largest hospitals saw their pretax income rise nearly 10% to $374.6 million for the 12 months ended Sept. 30, according to this week’s Business Journal list.
That hardly compares to the 404% surge they saw for the same period a year prior. That windfall came largely because the stock market spent much of 2009 climbing up from the bottom of the recession, when major indexes fell by about half.
Revenue and pretax income figures generally come from California’s Office of State- wide Hospital Planning and Development.
The list is ranked by net patient revenue, which was up 5% to $5.7 billion for the 12 months through September.
Twenty-three of the hospitals were profitable through September. Of those, 16 reported higher pre-tax income during the period compared to a year earlier.
One of the hospitals swung to a profit versus a loss the year prior. Two reported a loss versus a year-ago profit.
Ten saw lower pre-tax net income, while three saw a second year of losses.
One hospital’s revenue is an estimate. No. 4 Kaiser Permanente Anaheim Medical Center doesn’t report financial data to the state. The Business Journal estimates its revenue at a combined $450 million for Kaiser’s Anaheim and Irvine campuses, which operate under the same license.
Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, with campuses in Newport Beach and Irvine, maintained its No. 1 position on the list, with a 202% pretax profit gain to $62 million. A year earlier, Hoag’s pretax profit came in at about $21 million.
Hoag’s net patient revenue rose 7% to $719.8 million.
For the second year in a row, UCI Medical Center, a teaching hospital in Orange, followed Hoag as the list’s No. 2 entry. UCI Medical Center’s net patient revenue was up 2% to $613.3 million.
UCI’s pretax income dropped significantly to $38.5 million, down 40% from $64 million.
Several of the next positions went to hospitals owned by Orange-based St. Joseph Health System.
No. 3 St. Joseph Hospital-Orange saw its pretax profit surge 73% to $39.7 million from a year earlier. Net patient revenue grew 6% to $523.7 million.
No. 5 St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton saw its pretax profit grow 37% to $64.8 million. St. Jude’s patient revenue rose 7% to $444.9 million.
Another member of the St. Joseph Health System—Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo—was No. 6 on the list. Mission’s pretax profit was up 75% to $56.9 million on a 19% revenue hike to $439.1 million.
Mission’s totals include Mission Hospital Laguna Beach, which formerly was known as South Coast Medical Center and was taken over by the St. Joseph system in 2009.
Saddleback Memorial Medical Center, which has campuses in Laguna Hills and San Clemente, maintained its No. 7 position on the list. Saddleback’s profit was up 4% to $33.1 million. Revenue was up slightly at $355.2 million, a 1% gain.
Saddleback and Fountain Valley’s Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center, the No. 10 hospital, are owned by MemorialCare Health System, which also is based in Fountain Valley.
Children’s Hospital of Orange County ranked No. 8 on the list. It saw pretax profit fall 17% from a year ago to $8.2 million.
CHOC’s net patient revenue was flat, at $332 million.
Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center was No. 9 on the list. Fountain Valley’s pretax profit was up 59% to $11.4 million on a 7% net patient revenue gain to $275.9 million.
No. 10 Orange Coast Memorial’s pretax profit fell 31% to $10.6 million from $15.3 million a year ago. Net patient revenue was up 9% to $224.3 million.
The largest revenue gain on the list by percentage came from No. 21 La Palma Intercommunity Hospital, one of four local hospitals owned by Victorville-based Prime Healthcare Services Inc. La Palma’s revenue grew 35% to $56.3 million. Pre-tax net income rose 140% to $6.5 million.
Of the three hospitals that reported revenue declines, No. 29 Anaheim General Hospital saw the steepest fall on a percentage basis. Its net patient revenue was down 52% for the 12 months ended in September 2010 to $11.7 million.
The hospital saw pretax income dip by nearly 300% to a loss of $22.2 million.
Anaheim General, which has 143 beds, regained certification from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services last October, allowing it to receive reimbursement from the federal healthcare program for the elderly.
“As far as we know, we are only one of very few hospitals in the U.S. that have been successfully recertified by CMS after losing their certification. Most hospitals facing similar challenges have closed,” said Tom Salerno, Anaheim General’s chief executive.
Regulators had cut off reimbursement for the hospital in 2009 after several inspections revealed problems such as medication errors, unsafe medical equipment, expired supplies and improperly sterilized surgical equipment.
