Community Health Systems reports loss of $118M in Q1, down nearly 80% from last year

Community Health Systems lost $118 million in the first quarter of this year—compared to a loss of $25 million in the same period in 2018—due in part to falling admissions.

The Franklin, Tennessee-based health system showed a 13.4% decrease in total admissions and a 12.8% decrease in total adjusted admissions compared with the same period in 2018. The health system performed better on a same-store basis with admissions decreasing only 0.1% and adjusted admissions increasing 0.8% last quarter.

On a same-store basis, admissions decreased 0.1% and adjusted admissions increased 0.8% for the three months that ended March 31, 2019, compared with the same period in 2018. On a same-store basis, net operating revenues increased 3.1% for the three months ended March 31, 2019, compared with the same period in 2018.

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"We continued to see incremental improvements in same-store net revenue and volume across our key markets in the first quarter of 2019, as well as a strengthening of our overall portfolio as additional divestitures have occurred," said Wayne T. Smith, chairman and chief executive officer of Community Health Systems in a statement. "We believe our recent investments, including physician recruitment, employment and alignment strategies, and the development of new access points, will drive continued improvement in our performance moving forward."

In all, CHS reported an 8.5% decrease in revenue to $3.4 billion in the first quarter of 2019 compared to $3.7 billion in the same period of 2019. The health system has net cash from operating activities of $133 million, up from $106 million in the same period a year ago.

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