Hospital shows solid profit again

Carson-Tahoe Hospital continued as one of the state's most profitable small hospitals in 2003, completing the calendar year with net operating profits of $6.9 million and total net income of $10.9 million.

That is down somewhat from the $11.8 million net operating profits for the fiscal year ended June 30. But it was still better than operating revenues at most hospitals in the state - large or small.

Figures released by the state Division of Health Care financing and Policy show hospitals in general did much better this calendar year than last with total operational profits just about doubling to $98.5 million. But state officials said a large share of that change was the reduction in losses reported by University Medical Center in Las Vegas, which lost $38.4 million the previous year but reduced losses to $2.9 million in 2003.

The most profitable facilities in Nevada for the calendar year ending Dec. 31 were St. Rose Dominican's Sienna Campus in Southern Nevada with $17.9 million in operating profits and a total of $18.4 million on net income and Washoe Medical Center in Reno with a total $17.4 million in operational profits but $19.1 million in total profits. Sunrise in Las Vegas, the state's largest hospital, showed an operational profit of $14.6 million and total net income of $15.2 million for the year.

St. Mary's in Reno went from a solid $9.76 million in total profit in 2002 to a $3.2 million overall loss in 2003.

The seven county-owned rural hospitals reported operational losses totaling $3.2 million, which is better than the $4.6 those same hospitals lost the year before. Those facilities were helped out by tax dollars totaling $6.8 million - giving them an overall profit of $3.5 million for the year.

Three privately owned rural hospitals - Churchill Community Hospital in Fallon, Northeastern in Elko and Nye Regional Medical Center in Tonopah - reported a 76 percent increase in profits to $10.3 million.

The average amount hospitals collected from patients per day increased 6 percent to $1,884. The increase was 7.7 percent in Clark County but just 1.5 percent in Reno and Carson City facilities.

Carson-Tahoe Hospital reported a total of 8,401 admissions during the year with an average stay of three and a half days. That means the hospital had adjusted billing charges averaging $5,186 per day for 2003.

Contact Geoff Dornan at nevadaappeal@sbcglobal.net or 687-8750.