Samaritan finances dip into negative territory

MOSES LAKE — An unexpected jump in expenses pushed Samaritan Healthcare’s bottom line into the red at the end of February.

For January and February, “the total expenses are what’s driving everything. The total expenses are really high,” said interim financial officer Paul Ishizuka. For the two months expenses were about $750,000 above the 2017 budget projections, he said. As a result, “they’re driving operating income to being negative and the net income to being way below budget.”

Admissions for the two months actually are positive – running “quite a bit over budget,” about 6.8 percent over budget projections and about 8 percent over 2016. “That’s a pretty good starting point.”

One reason is that the nursing staff has worked to provide enough staff so patients don’t need to be transported to out-of-area hospitals, Ishizuka said. More patients leads to an increase in salaries, “which is a great trade for us to make,” because patients are being treated locally, Ishizuka said. In addition, patients are staying longer.

Emergency room visits are about 1 percent under 2016 and 5 percent under the budget targets, while inpatient surgical cases are over budget targets.

Ishizuka said adjusted discharges, which measure inpatient and outpatient treatment, are in his opinion the best indicator of hospital utilization. For January and February adjusted discharges are 4 percent over budget. Revenues were about 3 percent over budget.

Commissioner Dale Paris asked about the patient census, the number of patients in the hospital. Ishizuka said the average daily census was 22 patients in 2016, and 22 to 23 for the same period in 2017.

Ishizuka said the fact the expenses are so far off the budget target could mean they were underestimated, but that additional business didn’t account for all the additional expenses.

“We had a couple different things going on.” Some bills that should’ve been paid in 2016 actually showed up and were paid in 2017, he said, “and it’s magnified because it’s only two months.” In addition, some expenses that are budgeted throughout the year showed up in the first two months.

Net income is under budget by about $450,000 for the first two months, he said.

Staffing is under budget, but salaries are over projections. That’s due to extra costs to maintain nursing staffs, he said.

“What we concluded is that we should see how March goes,” he said, before making any changes. “If we don’t improve our operating results at the end of the first quarter, you’re going to see a different kind of report.” If income is still under budget hospital officials will have to take steps to cut expenses, he said.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbabasinherald.com.