Nevada hospitals’ profit down

Friday, Feb. 4, 2005 | 10:58 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- University Medical Center, the hospital owned by Clark County, recorded a $7.6 million loss last fiscal year. It's the third straight year of losses.

HCA Inc.-owned Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center, the state's largest hospital, saw its profit drop to $245,000 in fiscal 2004, down from $18.3 million in the previous fiscal year.

"Reimbursement rates by paying customers has not kept pace with the cost of uninsured patients and the cost of supplies and pharmaceuticals," Sunrise spokeswoman Glenda McCartney said.

McCartney said the western part of the nation has the highest number of uninsured patients. The state Division of Health Care Financing and Policy issued its annual report today showing that profit in Nevada hospitals slumped to $80.8 million in fiscal 2004, down 8.1 percent from the previous year.

The division said when profit and losses from the four new hospitals that opened during the year are included, the profit for all hospitals fell to $60.3 million. During the fiscal year Southern Hills and Spring Valley hospitals opened in Las Vegas, Carson Valley Medical Center opened in Gardnerville and Washoe Medical Center South Meadows opened in Reno.

Bill Welch, president and chief executive of the Nevada Hospital Association, said there are several factors that have caused profit to fall. He said the hospitals are seeing more patients covered by Medicaid. And that federal-state program pays only 22 cents on the $1 of cost for the hospitals.

More of these Medicaid patients are entering the hospital than seeking out-patient care, he said.

"And there is an ever-growing uninsured population," he said. Hospitals receive only a small payment for treating those individuals.

Many hospitals have contracts with groups and these are fixed rate agreements but the cost of hospital supplies is growing, he said. In addition, the state has had to recruit nurses from outside Nevada to fill the vacancies and this is expensive.

With the growing population, he said there is a shortage of doctors on call for emergency rooms and that has become a high cost item. And he said the hospitals, along with other businesses, got hit with the state's payroll tax that was enacted by the 2003 Legislature.

Universal Health Services Inc.-owned Valley Hospital Medical Center reported profit of $13.9 million, up $700,000 from the prior fiscal year and sister hospital Desert Springs had $750,000 in profit after an $811,000 loss in fiscal 2003, the division said. Sister facility Summerlin Hospital Medical Center reported an $8.3 million profit.

University Medical Center last reported a profit in 2001 of $420,000. It then had losses of $10.7 million in 2002 and $17.6 million in 2003. Mike Alastuey, a lobbyist for the hospital, said it has made progress.

University Medical Center, Alastuey said, leads the state in caring for nonpaying patients. It would be considered a success to just break even, he said.

The division said the average amount of revenue per day collected from patients and their insurance companies in Clark County hospitals was $1,835, an increase of 5.9 percent.

The most profitable hospital in Clark County was Catholic Healthcare West-owned St. Rose Dominican Hospitals-Siena Campus that posted an $18.8 million profit. At its Rose de Lima campus, the profit was $754,137.

"It is important to remember that St. Rose Dominican Hospitals are not-for-profit hospitals; in which all operating margins are turned back to the communities we serve," Rod Davis, president St. Rose Dominican Hospitals -- Siena Campus and the Nevada market, said in a statement. "Those operating margins provide for tremendous benefit to our community and allow us to continue our mission of serving the underprivileged and underserved."

HCA Inc.-owned Mountain View had a $9.9 million profit and sister hospital Southern Hills Hospital Medical Center lost $11.5 million.

IASIS Healthcare LLC-owned North Vista Hospital, formerly known as Lake Mead Hospital, lost $1.2 million last fiscal year.

The seven county-owned rural hospitals reported losses of $3.8 million last fiscal year, down from the $5.3 million lost in fiscal 2003. The division said the counties chipped in $6.3 million that allowed these hospitals combined to end up with $2.5 million in the black.

Profit from the four privately owned rural hospitals rose to $12.9 million, up from $5.6 million from the prior year.