Seven North Carolina hospital systems had record profits during COVID, report says

North Carolina’s largest hospital programs made report income throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, in line with a report launched Wednesday by the state treasurer’s workplace.

The report stated seven hospital programs — Atrium Well being, Cone Well being, Duke Well being, Novant Well being, UNC Well being, Vidant Well being and WakeMed — made a mixed $5.2 billion in internet income in 2021. The programs, in line with the report, additionally obtained a mixed $1.5 billion in COVID-19 reduction cash.

“The federal authorities channeled taxpayers’ cash to the wealthy and the highly effective hospitals, particularly right here in North Carolina. (They) didn’t actually need the cash within the first place,” stated Ge Bai, professor of well being coverage and administration at Johns Hopkins College, who helped assessment the report from the treasurer’s workplace, throughout a Wednesday information convention.

State Treasurer Dale Folwell referred to as on the hospital programs to “use their income to decrease prices for sufferers” or “return pointless, taxpayer-funded reduction {dollars}.”

The North Carolina Healthcare Affiliation, which represents the state’s hospitals, in a assertion Wednesday referred to as the treasurer’s report “politically motivated” and stated it was “falsely demonizing” hospital programs.

“Cherry-picking monetary knowledge, after which spinning it, isn’t reflective of the numerous immense struggles and challenges dealing with the hospital area, together with a workforce scarcity criticism together with skyrocketing prices for provides, gear, medication and labor, and near-historic ranges of inflation,” the NCHA assertion stated, partially.

Charlotte-based Atrium Well being, the town’s largest hospital system, additionally responded to the report with an announcement.

“It’s troubling that well being programs like Atrium Well being are being attacked whereas we’re nonetheless caring for communities which can be recovering from the pandemic,” Atrium’s assertion learn, partially. “The fact is the $719 million in supplier reduction funds now we have obtained covers lower than half of the adversarial $1.55 billion monetary affect now we have incurred on account of the pandemic.”

In June 2020, WFAE reported that Atrium had obtained about $191 million in federal grants designed to assist well being care suppliers reply to the coronavirus, in line with a knowledge evaluation by analysis group Good Jobs First. In the meantime, Atrium’s monetary statements confirmed the hospital system had almost $5 billion in funding accounts in 2018.

On the time, an Atrium spokesperson stated the funds, a part of billions in federal reduction included within the Coronavirus Help, Reduction, and Financial Safety, or CARES Act, could be used to partially offset “sizable losses attributable to the pandemic.”