Catholic Healthcare West Reports 64% Reduction in Operating Losses in Fiscal Year 2002
San Francisco-based Catholic Healthcare West, the state's largest not-for-profit hospital chain, yesterday reported $47.4 million in operating losses in fiscal year 2002 -- a 64% decrease from FY 2001 and a "sign of a financial turnaround" after combined losses of $933 million over the four previous years, the Sacramento Bee reports. CHW posted $4.5 billion in revenues in FY 2002. In FY 2001, CHW reported operating losses of $134.5 million on revenues of $4.8 billion. The company posted operating losses of $317.9 million on revenues of $4.5 billion in FY 2000. Analysts attributed CHW's improved financial performance to "streamlined management" and reductions in operating expenses. According to the Bee, CHW-owned Mercy hospitals in the Sacramento area also "have been instrumental" in the turnaround. The hospitals, which include Mercy General and Methodist hospitals in Sacramento, Mercy Hospital of Folsom, Mercy San Juan Medical Center in Carmichael and Woodland Healthcare, reported an operating margin of 2% in FY 2002, compared to a systemwide operating margin of -1% over the same period (Rapaport, Sacramento Bee, 9/26).
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