LifePoint profits more than double

Hospital operator LifePoint Hospitals has reported its second quarter profits, and they're looking good, particularly when compared with the company's rough first quarter. The company, which is based in Brentwood, TN, said profits more than doubled for the most recent quarter. It booked net income of $30.5 million for the quarter, compared with $13.4 million in the same quarter last year. Revenue was up 4.1 percent, to $680.8 million. The company, a 1999 spin-off of HCA, runs 48 acute-care hospitals in 17 states. It runs hospitals in non-urban communities and seeks to be the only hospital in many of these communities.

These profit increases came despite a 2.3 percent drop in inpatient admissions fueled by its ending two unprofitable obstetric programs, as well as the declining economy. On the other hand, though, the company saw higher-acuity patients, and also had less bad debt. More importantly, the company says, executives did an intensive review of its seven largest hospitals, which has helped it rethink its service lines and drop unprofitable services. Meanwhile, the company's been working on building its medical staff, which should increase 5 percent company wide this year, the company said.

To learn more about LifePoint:
- read this Modern Healthcare article (reg. req.)

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