Holy Redeemer Hospital (Image courtesy of Google StreetView)
Local community hospitals may soon be financially impossible to run.
Perhaps the age of the community hospital is going the way of the dodo bird. According to a report in the Philadelphia Business Journal by John George, a senior reporter, Redeemer Health is one of just three health systems in Greater Philadelphia that even have a single community hospital remaining, and, he says, it may soon be the only one.
However, the title isn’t one of glory or honor. George’s report states that Redeemer Health is operating at a loss of over $50 million, in what he calls an “independent health system dwindle.”
According to the report, Redeemer Health, which is the owner and operator of Holy Redeemer Hospital, with Abington area locations in both Meadowbrook and Huntingdon Valley, is operating at a $53.2 million loss for 2024, a figure George said is up 37 percent from its $38.7 million in operating losses in 2023.
George said that, while revenue seemed to remain the same ($442.46 million in 2024 from the $442.42 million in 2023), expenses shot up three percent ($495.7 million this year over $481.2 million last).
The hospital calculates its finances in two major categories, both of which have seen substantial losses. The hospital’s “operating costs” make up for $27.7 million of the fiscal year’s losses, while the “physician services” portion accounted for $20.7 million of the deficit.
George said that the hospital was last profitable in 2019, when it netted $2.3 million. Since, it has reported losses “in excess of $140 million.”
For the full report in the PBJ, visit https://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/news/2024/11/04/redeemer-health-montgomery-county-hospitals-532m.html.
