Vidant Health, an eight-hospital system in Greenville, N.C., reported a 15.7% decline in its operating surplus in fiscal 2014 as both inpatient and outpatient volume lagged.
For the year ended Sept. 30, Vidant reported an operating surplus of $79.4 million (PDF) on revenue of nearly $1.6 billion compared with an operating surplus of $94.3 million on revenue just above $1.6 billion for fiscal 2013.
It also booked lower non-operating income to finish the year with a total surplus of $61.2 million compared with last year's $109.6 million.
Vidant in September formed a non-ownership alliance with two other North Carolina-based systems that should allow it to realize some savings by coordinating purchases. The partnership also includes Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem and WakeMed Health & Hospitals in Raleigh, which each have three hospitals.
Inpatient admissions declined 4.2%, or 2.7% when adjusted for outpatient activity. Outpatient activity declined less 1% while emergency room visits were up 1.6%.
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