Sentara Healthcare continued to see operating gains in 2014, helped by transactions that boosted the Norfolk, Va.-based system's operating surplus 23.3% for the year ended Dec. 31.
The not-for-profit health system, which operates 12 hospitals across North Carolina and Virginia, reported total operating revenue rose 9.2% to $4.7 billion during fiscal 2014.
That includes $3.1 billion in net patient revenue that now includes benefits from a long-term lease agreement signed in March 2014 to acquire Albemarle (N.C.) Hospital, Albemarle Physician Services and Regional Medical Services.
Sentara in recent years has gone on a consolidation spree. In July 2013, Sentara merged with Halifax Regional Health System in South Boston, Va., and in August 2011, began a joint venture with Bon Secours Health System to operate Sentara Princess Anne Hospital in Virginia Beach, Va.
As the system has grown, so too have expenses. Sentara's operating expenses hit $4.4 billion for the year, with every category but benefits and interest growing between 8% and 10.5%.
Meanwhile, the one area that didn't see growth was the nonoperating side of the balance sheet. Nonoperating gains were slashed 76.2% for the year. That drop, from $390.0 million in 2013 to $92.7 million in 2014, had the biggest impact on the system's bottom line and its overall margin.
Sentara finished the year with a net surplus of $359.9 million, representing a net margin of 7.7%. That's nearly half of what it was in 2013 when investment gains helped the system close the year with a 14.1% net margin.
