Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, Winston-Salem, N.C., reported a $19.2 million operating surplus for the first half of fiscal 2015 after two consecutive years of operating losses.
The recovery came as patient volumes improved, helping to grow net patient service revenue by 10.3% to $899.4 million during the six months ended Dec. 31, 2014. Inpatient admissions were up 10.7% as inpatient surgical cases and flu-related admissions surged higher during the year.
The expansion of ambulatory facilities and openings of multi-specialty clinics and urgent-care centers also helped drive increases in utilization across outpatient and emergency settings of 7.8% and 7.0%, respectively.
“Wake Forest Baptist has realized significant improvements in operating performance,” CEO Dr. John McConnell said in a news release tied to unaudited financial statements released Tuesday. “Management has implemented strategies and processes to restore financial performance and enhance existing programs at providing a value-based healthcare model.”
Financial performance—across the academic medical center's operations—did improve. Wake Forest Baptist recorded an operating surplus of $19.2 million, compared with an operating loss of $23.5 million a year ago. Overall revenue growth reached 9.5% as expense growth was held to 4.9% for the two quarters.
But investment losses stripped away millions in gains, knocking the not-for-profit's net surplus down to $8.1 million. The net surplus for the same period a year ago was 62.5% higher at $21.6 million.
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