NYC Health and Hospitals' operating loss leaped to $263.6 million during the first quarter of its fiscal year as patient revenue declined and operating expenses edged upwards.
Ian Michaels, an NYC Health and Hospitals spokesman, said the timing of the 11-hospital system's supplemental Medicaid payments was behind the much larger operating loss for the quarter ended Sept. 30, which was seven times the figure reported for the same period a year ago.
The city, which owns NYC Health and Hospitals, increased its appropriations to the money-losing system to $67.7 million during the quarter, up from $47.4 million during the year-ago period. But that was not enough to offset the $93.8 million drop, or about 7%, in patient revenue to $1.17 billion for the quarter. Grant revenue also plunged by roughly 70% to $32.1 million for the three months.
Expenses increased 4% to $2.17 billion for the quarter, in part driven by higher labor and pension costs.
This month NYC Health and Hospitals named a new CFO, Plachikkat Anantharam, who previously worked for New York City's office of management and budget with oversight of the system's financial reporting and budget.
The system “faces numerous financial challenges and we will fight for every dollar the system deserves to ensure that taxpayer funds are maximized for the benefit of our patients,” Anantharam said in a statement announcing his appointment.
Dr. Ramanathan Raju, CEO of the public system, has said the struggling system's viability will depend on its ability to compete more aggressively for patients.
