Heywood profitable, others ran losses in 2020

Photo | Google Heywood Hospital in Gardner

Write a Comment

By Grant Welker

Heywood Healthcare was profitable in its 2020 budget year, while most other Central Massachusetts hospital networks ran deficits despite federal coronavirus pandemic relief funding.

The pandemic hit hospitals hard, forcing expensive efforts to obtain enough personal protective equipment, set up special screening areas and shift around intensive-care beds in an effort to isolate and be able to care for coronavirus patients. At the same time, hospitals went long stretches without many of the appointments and procedures that bring in much of their revenue.

UMass Memorial Health, the area's largest health network, ran a $23-million deficit, despite $183 million in aid from federal and state sources for operating revenue and $411 million in total relief funding, according to new data released Thursday by the state's Center for Health Information and Analysis. UMass Memorial's operating deficit margin was 2.0%.

Heywood Healthcare, which runs Heywood Hospital in Gardner and Athol Hospital, was the only Central Massachusetts hospital network to report a surplus. Heywood ran a $3.4-million surplus, for an operating margin of 1.6%.

Others, like UMass Memorial, didn't break even.

Harrington HealthCare System, which includes Harrington Hospital in Southbridge, had a $26.4-million, or 11.9%, deficit. Milford Regional Medical Center and Affiliates had a $2.3-million, or 1.7%, operating deficit.

Tenet Healthcare, a for-profit network whose hospitals include Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester and MetroWest Medical Center in Framingham and Natick, did not have data reported. Neither did Steward Health Care, a for-profit that includes Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer. Those systems are on a different fiscal year schedule.

Statewide, acute-care hospitals ran 3.1% operating profitability margins, according to CHIA. That's a drop of 0.4 percentage points from the prior fiscal year but includes a total of $1.8-billion in relief the hospitals reported as operating revenue. Aggregate net patient service revenue, which typically takes up the bulk of operating revenue, fell year-to-year by $1.4 billion, or 5.6%, statewide while expenses rose $1.3 billion, or 4.4%.

Each hospital group would have run deficits if not for the pandemic aid, CHIA said.