Patient volume at HCA Healthcare's facilities continues to swell, validating its plans to spend more than $5 billion on capital projects this year.
For-profit HCA experienced broad-based volume growth in the first three months of the year, CEO Sam Hazen said on Friday's quarterly earnings call. Same-facility admissions grew 6.2%, emergency department visits rose 7.2% and inpatient surgeries increased 1.7%. Outpatient surgeries declined 2.1%, but that was due to the time of year and Medicaid redeterminations, he said.
Related: HCA Healthcare expands academic partnership to boost staffing pipeline
In January, HCA said it planned to bring more than $2 billion of capital projects online this year to accommodate increased patient demand. Capital spending in 2024 is expected to land between $5.1 billion and $5.3 billion. The system spent $1.12 billion on capital projects in the first quarter, excluding acquisitions.
"We're investing more in the business than we've ever invested because of the capacity that we need and the network development that we want," Hazen told financial analysts on Friday's call. "We're really excited about what we're spending our money on, and our patterns have proven that we can generate very positive returns."
Hazen said HCA has "major projects on a host of campuses" coming online this year, in addition to opening Methodist Hospital Westover Hills in San Antonio. He expects the system's bed capacity to increase by about 2% this year — on par with last year's growth rate.
In 2023, HCA opened Methodist Hospital Landmark in San Antonio and acquired Methodist Hospital Hill Country in Fredericksburg, Texas. It bought 41 urgent care centers in Texas from FastMed. Also last year, the system acquired 11 Houston-area emergency departments from SignatureCare Emergency Center.
Nashville, Tennessee-based HCA operates 188 hospitals and approximately 2,400 ambulatory care sites, including surgery centers, free-standing emergency departments, urgent care centers and physician clinics, in 20 states and the United Kingdom.
HCA reported $1.59 billion in net income, or $5.93 per diluted share, in the first quarter of 2024, compared with $1.36 billion, or $4.85 per diluted share, in the year-ago period. First-quarter revenue rose 11.2% to $17.34 billion, and expenses increased 10.4% to $15.09 billion.
Chief Financial Officer Bill Rutherford will retire from HCA effective May 1. Mike Marks, senior vice president of finance, will succeed Rutherford as CFO.
