This Month’s Resources
- Blog: 3 Questions for Your New Hospital Data Access Initiative
- Professional Dev: Talk data access with other hospital finance leaders on LinkedIn
- Recommended Modules
- Resources
- American Hospital Association report: Leveraging Data for Healthcare Innovation
- 67 Financial Benchmarks for Health System Executives
Oi Health: Healthcare News Roundup
Every month, we provide a curated overview of the healthcare finance news impacting hospitals, health systems, critical access providers, and community hospitals.
Beckers’ Highlights Health Systems with Solid Finances
Compiling information from Moody’s Investors Service, Fitch Ratings, and S&P Global Ratings, Beckers has listed eight health systems that exhibit strong financial positions and solid operational metrics. These include:
- Advocate Aurora Health
- Indiana University Health
- Monument Health
- Northwestern Medicine
- Providence
- SCL Health
- Texas Health Resources
- University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics
Undistributed COVID-19 Provider Relief Funds Gain Attention of Hospital Leadership
According to a letter from the American Hospital Association (AHA) to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra, tens of billions of dollars in pandemic aid for hospitals and nursing homes remains undistributed—just as hospitals across the country are dealing with a new surge of COVID-19 patients. A total of about $44 billion from the Provider Relief Fund created in 2020 reportedly remains unspent, in addition to $8.5 billion allotted by Congress this year for care in rural areas.
This is happening as COVID-19 is stretching not-for-profit (NFP) hospital and health system operations to the worst levels of any time during the pandemic.
The AHA is joined by lawmakers asking the current administration to get funds to areas that are in urgent need of financial support as they prepare for current and future pandemic challenges.
Fresh Financial Benchmarks for Health System Executives
Fitch Ratings’ “2021 Median Ratios: Not-for-Profit Hospitals and Healthcare Systems” report details multiple benchmarks that health systems leaders can employ to evaluate how their organizational health lines up with local and regional comparisons. These include: cash on hand, A/R, debt to EBITDA, and personnel costs as a % of total operating revenue. The list also includes financial benchmarks broken down by category rating (AA+ through BBB).
Hospital CFO Moves
Jodi L. Howe has been appointed as CFO of St. James Hospital and Jones Memorial Hospital in Hornell, NY. Ms. Howe will report to the CEO at both hospitals and provide leadership in the areas of general accounting, financial services, revenue cycle (for Jones Memorial) and financial reporting activities. She will also have oversight of materials management and will be providing insight and guidance into investment and reimbursement concerns.
Edward Chabalowski has been named VP of finance and CFO for Penn State Health’s Berks and Lancaster county region. Chabalowski will serve as senior financial leader for Penn State Health St. Joseph and Penn State Health Lancaster Medical Center. Chabalowski is CFO for two hospitals within Tower Health.
Review our last Hospital Finance Ed topic: Phasing Out the IPO List
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