SPOTLIGHT: Specialty hospital profits

A Pennsylvania group says profits are up at some specialty hospitals in the state while others are facing tougher times. The Pennsylvania Cost Containment Council said long-term acute care facilities reported an average operating margin of nearly 6 percent in fiscal 2004, up from an average loss of 0.25 percent a year earlier. Rehabilitation hospitals and psychiatric facilities in the state, on the other hand, are struggling. Ambulatory surgery centers continued to perform well, reporting profit margins up slightly to 19 percent. The report notes that the number of specialty facilities in the state has tripled since the year 2000. Story