LAKE OSWEGO, Ore. (KTVZ) – Oregon hospitals’ second-quarter median working margin was constructive for the primary time in 5 quarters, as echoed in a 2023 turnaround for St. Charles Health System, however is “still well below a healthy level, underscoring the potential fragility of hospital services,” the Hospital Association of Oregon mentioned this week.

A new report launched by Apprise Health Insights reveals Oregon hospitals reported a collective median working margin of 1% and a median whole margin of two.6%, which incorporates funding revenue.

“Both numbers remain below pre-pandemic levels and reflect the ongoing challenges hospitals face as their operating expenses continue to outpace their revenue from core patient care activities,” the hospital affiliation mentioned.

“Too many hospitals are forced to dip into their savings and find other ways to pay their bills,” mentioned affiliation President and CEO Becky Hultberg. “We have to go back 2 1/2 years to find a time when hospitals brought in enough operating revenue to cover the cost of patient care.” 

Nearly half of Oregon’s hospitals, or 43%, continued to put up a unfavorable working margin within the second quarter of this yr.  

As for St. Charles, for the six months that ended June 30, the hospital system reported an working revenue of $27.6 million, in comparison with a lack of $43.3 million for the six months that ended June 30, 2022.

Chief Financial Officer Matt Swafford famous that St. Charles is among the many greater than 50% of hospitals across the state that posted a constructive working margin within the second quarter.

“The health system’s financial turnaround cannot be attributed to one thing – it’s been a systematic approach that is the result of a lot of hard work by many people,” Swafford mentioned in an announcement to NewsChannel 21. 

“Hospital systems across the state and nation continue to struggle,” he mentioned, “and we remain concerned about the stability of the health care industry as a whole.”

“Having a positive operating margin is critical, as St. Charles is looking to reinvest in our facilities and make infrastructure repairs and improvements that we fell behind on when our efforts were focused on the global pandemic response,” Swafford added.

Statewide, the hospital affiliation mentioned, “Hospitals are experiencing the increasing pressure of an inflationary environment. Their operating expenses continued to rise in the second quarter, with employee costs (which make up half of total operating expenses) increasing 31% from the second quarter of 2020. Spending on supplies has also increased sharply, by 52%.” 

At the identical time, they mentioned, working bills have elevated, income from core affected person actions has not saved tempo. In the second quarter, Oregon hospitals spent $166 million greater than they made.   

“I remain concerned about these financial stressors, which jeopardize the ability of hospitals to care for patients in the communities they serve,” Hultberg mentioned. “We have already seen several hospitals make the wrenching decision to reduce services, and I worry that more are on the way.”    

Hultberg additionally mentioned Oregon hospitals nonetheless face a big well being care workforce scarcity that negatively impacts affected person care. Although hospitals collaborated with labor teams to help a bundle of payments to help and rebuild the well being care workforce within the 2023 legislative session, the hospital affiliation mentioned “more work is needed to ensure the stability of hospitals, so that they can care for the communities they serve.”   

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About the Hospital Association of Oregon
Founded in 1934, the Hospital Association of Oregon is a mission-driven, nonprofit commerce
affiliation representing Oregon’s 62 hospitals. Together, hospitals are the sixth largest non-public
employer statewide, using greater than 70,000 staff.

Committed to fostering a stronger, safer Oregon with equitable entry to wonderful well being care,
the hospital affiliation supplies companies to Oregon’s hospitals guaranteeing all are capable of ship
reliable, complete well being care to their communities; educates authorities officers
and the general public on the state’s well being panorama; and works collaboratively with policymakers,
neighborhood organizations, and the well being care neighborhood to construct consensus on and advance
good well being care coverage benefiting the state’s 4 million residents.