Mass General Brigham suffered a net loss of $948m in Q3, a huge contrast to Q3 last year, which saw an $870m net gain.
The recent loss, that brought their operating expenses total to $4.4bn, seems to be the result of a combination of incredibly high staff wage costs, up 11% (including temporary staff), and a 10% increase in Employee Benefits costs.
The loss is, however, in line with other larger non-profit providers, with Kaiser Permanente at $1.3bn net loss and Sutter Health at $457m net loss.
The higher costs along with a challenging investment market make it a real challenge to balance the finances.
“The challenges we face are significant,” Anne Klibanski, M.D., president and CEO of MGB, said in a statement. “The national labor shortage continues, leading to higher costs and contributing to ongoing severe capacity constraints.” These industrywide high labor expenses joined higher acuity patients and a rough investment market as the primary culprits of the nonprofit system’s fiscal third quarter, according to financial documents recently filed by MGB. While total operating revenue rose year over year from $4.08 billion to $4.26 billion, MGB noted extended lengths of stay, and that decreased discharges by 5%, trimmed patient care revenue growth and increased per-patient costs.
unknownx500
