University of California-Davis Medical Center Announces Profit for Fiscal Year 2003

Following a year of "tight management and tough decisions," the University of California-Davis Medical Center reported a net income of $43.3 million on net patient revenue of $767.8 million for fiscal year 2003, which ended June 30, the Sacramento Bee reports. The medical center in February announced plans to ground one of its two emergency helicopters and eliminate 300 jobs, which resulted in cost savings of about $6 million in FY 2003 and will save the medical center a total of about $18.7 million by February, according to CEO Robert Chason. Chason said that without the layoffs, the medical center would not have been able to match its fiscal performance from fiscal year 2002, when it reported net income of $35.3 million. Although financial reports indicate that net income increased 22% from FY 2002 to FY 2003, Davis officials said that much of that increase can be attributed to $5 million in payments from Blue Cross of California and PacifiCare to settle bills that the insurers previously had disputed. In addition, Medicare revenue increased about 19.5% to $258.8 million for FY 2003, from $216.6 million in FY 2002, in part because the Medicare beneficiaries treated at Davis were "significantly sicker" in FY 2003 than in FY 2002, Davis Chief Financial Officer William McGowan said. According to the Bee, Davis is one of the most profitable academic medical centers in California and "the financially healthiest hospital in the UC system" (Rapaport, Sacramento Bee, 12/5).