Beaumont Hospital Wayne has temporarily ceased operations as the Southfield-based health system has redeployed most employees and staff to other Beaumont facilities as the numbers of hospitalized COVID-19 patients has declined, Crain's has learned.
Used the past several weeks essentially as a COVID-19 intensive care unit, Beaumont Hospital Wayne and the entire eight-hospital nonprofit system has experienced a large drop in revenue and patient volume.
In a statement late Wednesday, Beaumont said the Wayne hospital is not permanently closing.
"Rumors to that effect are false," the statement to Crain's said.
"Yesterday, the few remaining patients at Wayne were safely discharged home or transferred to other hospitals. The hospital is now temporarily paused and not serving any patients. Most staff is being redeployed to other Beaumont sites where they can provide care for more patients. Others will be temporarily laid off and could potentially participate in enhanced state/federal unemployment programs."
Beaumont's inpatient COVID-19 volume has declined over the past nine days, dropping over from 1,095 patients on April 6 to about 847 Wednesday.
But because hospitals and other providers are restricted in the type of elective procedures they are allowed to do, revenue has dropped significantly, Beaumont said.
"Until these executive orders are lifted and the disaster declaration has ended, we are not changing the COVID-19 only status of the Wayne hospital," Beaumont said. "This is in preparation for a second surge that could occur after the stay at home restrictions end. The pandemic remains very unpredictable."
Last week, Beaumont issued its first-quarter financial results that showed a massive decline in net income and revenue, primarily due to the coronavirus pandemic and the drop in the stock market.
As of March 31, Beaumont reported a net income loss for the first quarter of $278.4 million, a decrease of $407.5 million over the same period in 2019. Operating revenue fell to $1.07 billion, a $78.2 million decrease over the $1.15 billion reported in the first quarter of 2019.
Meanwhile, net operating income, which reflects the amount of patient revenue hospitals receive, amounted to a loss of $54.1 million, a negative 5 percent operating margin for the first three months of the year.
First-quarter operations was $91.7 million lower from the same period in 2019 of $37.6 million for a 3.3 percent operating margin). Non-operating losses for the first quarter were $224.6 million, compared with a non-operating gain of $91.6 million in the same period last year, Beaumont said.
"The Beaumont Health team remains focused on caring for our COVID-19 patients and the many other patients we serve with other diagnoses. Right now, we have the resources, staff and personal protective equipment to care for our COVID-19 patients," said Beaumont CFO John Kerndl in a statement.
"However, the shelter-in-place order and community concerns about the virus have led to significant reductions in emergency center visits, non-essential surgeries and diagnostic services," he said. "We believe these reductions will continue well into the second quarter and negatively impact financial performance in a significant way."
"Beaumont Hospital Wayne closes temporarily as COVID-19 patient census drops" originally appeared in Crain's Detroit Business.
