Last year Renton, Wash.-based Providence Health & Services and Irvine-based St. Joseph Health merged to form a seven-state healthcare system, a transaction that further consolidated its Orange County-based hospitals under the umbrella of St. Joseph Hoag Health.
The new entity accounts for five of the 30 OC hospitals we’ve ranked this year with at least $10 million in net patient revenue.
The facilities took in $7.2 billion, up 2%. The list also includes pretax net income; and the number of patient days, outpatient visits, licensed beds and OC-based employees, though those numbers don’t affect the rankings.
The list includes new entrants Hoag Orthopedic Institute in Irvine and HealthBridge Children’s Hospital in Orange. Some other hospitals shuffled positions, but the ranking is otherwise unchanged from last year.
Wellness
UC Irvine Medical Center held onto first place with net patient revenue of approximately $997.1 million for the 12 months ended Sept. 30, up 9.24% year-over-year.
“UC Irvine Health has a long-standing commitment to promoting wellness in our community,” said Vice Chancellor of Health Affairs and Chief Executive Howard Federoff. “We opened Orange County’s first Federally Qualified Health Center in Santa Ana, and we continue to expand clinical services and wellness education across the region.”
UCI Health, as the only university-based care provider in Orange County, comprises clinical, medical education, and research. Its 417-bed acute care hospital is in Orange.
Federoff said a focus for UCI Health is to provide comprehensive care to older adults, a group he referred to as the “Silver Tsunami.”
Efforts include preventive care and chronic care, with the goal to empower patients to manage their own health.
• The hospitals in the St. Joseph Hoag network include: No. 2 ranked Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, third-ranked St. Joseph Hospital-Orange, fourth-ranked Mission Hospital and sixth-ranked St. Jude Medical Center.
• Children’s Hospital of Orange County broke up the St. Joseph Hoag Health streak on the list, placing fifth with $548 million in revenue. It experienced growth in inpatient and outpatient care, according to Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Kerri Schiller.
“Patients admitted to CHOC for inpatient care increased by 3% in 2016, and in particular, CHOC treated a large number of high-acuity patients with very long length of stays,” said Schiller, referring to very sick patients, particularly in oncology and neonatal intensive care.
• Hoag, with approximately $906.9 million in revenue that includes Hoag Hospital Irvine, grew revenue by 7%.
Chief Executive Robert Braithwaite attributed the increase to inpatient volume growth at hospital campuses in Newport Beach and Irvine, as well as efforts to lower expenses and make care delivery more efficient.
Outpatient visits increased by 3%. “Our commitment to the transition to outpatient care delivery is evidenced in the opening of Hoag Health Center Irvine at Sand Canyon and the groundbreaking of Hoag Health Center Tustin, as well as our urgent care strategy and the continued growth of our physician network,” Braithwaite said.
Hoag topped St. Joseph-Orange, which reported roughly $584.1 million in net patient revenue, by more than 55%. St. Joseph-Orange also had a steeper increase in operating loss.
Richard Afable, executive vice president of St. Joseph Health’s Southern California region and chief executive of St. Joseph Health, said the numbers don’t paint a holistic picture of the health system.
“Thinking of hospitals as a ‘retail’ model, where the more beds, more patients, and more revenue the better, doesn’t tell the whole story,” Afable said. “Hospitals are increasingly focused on serving the community more holistically, striving for better community health. If that means fewer hospital stays, less surgery and reduced use of hospital beds, we are OK with that.”
New entrants Hoag Orthopedic and HealthBridge Children’s had $122.2 million and $12.2 million in revenue, respectively.
