Half of Denver-area health systems were highly profitable in 2024, report says

Three of six Denver-area fitness systems had strong financial years in according to a new summary but that s a picture those hospitals say is skewed or false Much of that difference comes from which numbers are examined The Colorado Vitality Sector Review primarily focuses on total profits which increased compared to latest years for majority of fitness systems in the state mentioned Allan Baumgarten a robustness care consultant and the statement s author He argues that excluding income such as investments authorities grants and philanthropy understates hospitals true support was a great year for investments Baumgarten noted But the Colorado Hospital Association and greater part of its member soundness systems emphasize the margins hospitals earn on recipient care and the services that assistance it such as the cafeteria or paid parking As of June about of hospitals in Colorado had an unsustainable operating margin which the association defines as below Colorado Hospital Association spokesman Dan Mager declared Operating margin the metric CHA reports on is a much more accurate representation of hospital finances because it highlights the difference between the actual cost of providing person care and the reimbursement hospitals receive for providing it he revealed in a report Baumgarten s summary revealed total profits before taxes rose about for Denver-area hospitals to a combined billion UCHealth had the largest profit at about billion followed by HCA HealthOne at million and CommonSpirit Physical condition at million HCA HealthOne is the only for-profit system in the state meaning it pays taxes on its income UCHealth spokesman Dan Weaver explained the system focuses on its operating margin which is what it earns from individual care and other core functions In the fiscal year that ended in June UCHealth had about a operating margin he reported We ve inevitably disclosed that commitment income should not be included because it is volatile and because those are unrealized gains that may disappear in the next year he explained in an email profits also may have been artificially inflated because the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services had to make a lump-sum payment to hospitals they undercompensated through a prescription drug effort Weaver explained HCA HealthOne spokeswoman Stephanie Sullivan revealed she hadn t seen the review but analysts often mistakenly conflate the local hospitals with all of HCA or include allocations from the corporate office to the Colorado hospitals that inflate their apparent financial performance Colorado facilities face more challenges than the company as a whole because the state has been aggressive in recouping Medicaid payments she reported The uncertainty both statewide and federally contribute to the challenges hospitals are facing she reported in a comment Coupled with rising costs that are outpacing much of the country the healthcare care industry across Colorado is experiencing hard financial conditions Three systems in the metro area had an unprofitable according to the statement Denver Wellness which lost million AdventHealth which lost million and Intermountain Robustness which lost million Intermountain Healthcare revealed much of the loss reflects the on-paper depreciation of the old Lutheran Hospital in Wheat Ridge which it replaced in late summer It also faced increased costs and a higher need for charity care Despite the financial headwinds we re experiencing we remain committed to improving access to high-quality care at an affordable cost in the communities we serve Intermountain stated in a comment Denver Wellbeing has struggled financially for years though it came close to developing even after receiving cash infusions from the state in Bulk systems had a mix of profits and losses from their individual hospitals HCA HealthOne was the exception with all of its hospitals making money in Except for Intermountain Soundness all of the systems had less impressive profits or bigger losses when looking solely at their operating income None of them moved from black to red or vice versa depending on which type of income a person analyzed Denver-area hospital systems profits and losses AdventHealth million loss - margin CommonSpirit Wellness million profit margin Denver Medical million loss - margin HCA HealthOne million profit margin Intermountain Wellness million loss - margin UCHealth billion profit margin Source Colorado Wellness Area Review Despite a few struggles the Denver-area hospitals are relatively well-positioned to absorb an increase in uninsured patients Baumgarten reported Majority of projections show an increase in the uninsured rate next year unless Congress acts to extend higher subsidies for people who buy on the individual marketplace with more losing coverage in as stricter Medicaid eligibility rules kick in I think the challenges are important he mentioned I think the large systems are going to do fine The record also included a small number of independent hospitals including Boulder Neighborhood Robustness and National Jewish Robustness in the Denver area San Luis Valley Vitality s two hospitals and seven facilities scattered from La Junta to Grand Junction All but two had at least small profit margins in It left out the state s smallest and bulk remote hospitals however Those are the facilities that will struggle preponderance in the coming years since they already have a hard time coming up with the capital to make improvements or attracting providers as they start seeing more uninsured patients Baumgarten stated In general rural people are more likely to have coverage through Medicaid or the individual marketplace than urban customers meaning the hospitals that treat them are more exposed to upcoming framework changes he disclosed All of this adds up to more and more people coming in the door without an insurance card he announced As rural hospitals face increasing financial troubles more of them will likely entertain large healthcare systems as suitors Baumgarten commented When a small hospital becomes part of a chain it suddenly has the bargaining power to get rates it previously couldn t from insurance plans he announced pointing to the example of Estes Park Wellness in the past few days deciding to affiliate with UCHealth You can say Which do you prefer higher prices or the demise of a rural hospital ' he explained Related Articles Federal judge won t block Colorado prescription drug discount law Colorado doctor-turned-patient tripped up by bill for ankle surgery overnight hospital stay Strength insurance premiums to double next year on Colorado s individual field State inspectors exposed trays of blood-caked surgical tools at University of Colorado Hospital in babies start prenatal care late amid Colorado s shortage in providers Estes Park Wellness will benefit from chosen efficiencies such as the ability to buy supplies at UCHealth s bulk rate but it also will take on additional costs to provide employee benefits on par with the rest of the system Weaver declared In current years Estes Park Physical condition stopped offering obstetric services closed its affiliated nursing home and eliminated other specialty care While taking on a hospital that loses money can appear altruistic balance sheets tend to improve once the rural facility gets paid at rates the system typically collects Baumgarten reported And the wellness system can benefit in other strategies such as having a broader individual population to draw on for research and increasing referrals to their urban campuses for patients of the newly acquired hospitals that need more complex care he mentioned Sometimes it s portrayed as rescuing a vulnerable hospital but I would not say UC Wellness or CommonSpirit are doing this out of the goodness of their charitable hearts he reported I would say they have solid business reasons Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get soundness news sent straight to your inbox