Annual hospital report shows ups and downs
Overall, hospital doing better than in previous years
Staff reporter
Board members of Marion County Hospital District #1 reviewed the 2007 annual report March 25, regarding the condition of St. Luke Hospital, Living Center, and Marion County Home Care.
The news was a combination of good and bad with increases of some services and decreases in others.
In all, the hospital performed 157 surgeries/procedures and 43,000 outpatient procedures.
However, the hospital's operating margin remains in the red but there was an improvement from 2005 and 2006.
The operating margin measures cash inflow per dollar of revenue from providing patient care services. A positive value indicates cash outflows are less than cash inflows or there is more money coming in than going out. A negative value indicates there is more money being spent than coming in.
The operating margin in 2007 was -8.2 percent. In 2006 it was -8.5 percent and -9.7 percent in 2005.
It is recommended that the hospital maintain a (+)2.8 percent.
Quick facts
The hospital has 10 beds, the living center has 32. In 2005, there were 385 admissions, 274 in 2006, and only 173 in 2007.
Emergency room visits also decreased with 1,034 in 2007, 1,044 in 2006, and 1,246 in 2005.
However, the number of outpatient procedures increased by about 11 percent with a different calculation method being used in counting patient visits.
Surgical procedures have fluctuated the past three years with 304 in 2005, 428 in 2006, and 359 in 2007.
Home care visits have been decreasing with 6,451 in 2005, 5,812 in 2006, and 4,711 in 2007.
The nursing home side of the business remains constant, seeing a 99.3 percent occupancy rate in 2005 and 2007, and 96.3 percent in 2006.
Employee numbers have remained constant with 108 workers in 2005, 100 in 2006, and 104 in 2007. Payroll hasn't changed much at $2,864,736 in 2005, $2,892,541 in 2006, and $2,864, 311 in 2007. Employee benefits saw an increase of nearly $100,000 from 2006 to 2007 at $558,024, but remained $100,000 less than in 2005.
Patient service revenue increased from $5,909,031 in 2005 to $6,085,996 in 2007. Tax revenue also took a healthy jump from $461,518 in 2005 to $668,978 in 2006, and $683,353 in 2007.
Unsponsored or charity care plus bad debt decreased from $276,907 in 2005 to $180,661 in 2006, and $169,605 in 2007.
Good news
Current ratio measures the number of times short-term obligations can be paid using short-term assets. A value greater than 1.0 indicates current assets are greater than current liabilities. Very high values may indicate under-investment in longer-term assets that usually yield higher returns. A value less than 1.0 indicates current assets are less than current liability. Very low values may indicate financial difficulty.
St. Luke's 2.8 ratio in 2007 is above the recommended ratio of 2.6 and less than in 2005 when it was 3.9. The decrease is a direct result of significant investment in capital equipment for the hospital.
"Days cash on hand" measures the number of days an organization could operate if no cash was collected or received. A low value indicates only a few days of cash on hand. Very low values may indicate financial difficulty. A high value indicates many days of cash on hand. Very high values may indicate under-investment in longer-term assets that usually yield higher returns.
St. Luke's 112 days cash on hand is above the recommended level of 53 and an improvement of 13 days from 2006.
Physical therapy revenues increased 4.4 percent, radiology increased 11.5 percent, and lab revenues stayed even.
Overall outpatient revenues increased by 11 percent to $5,200,856.
