Six of 10 Central Mass. hospitals were profitable in fiscal 2024

Image I Courtesy of Google Maps Athol Hospital

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While the profitability of hospitals throughout the commonwealth varied widely in fiscal 2024, Athol Hospital has risen to the top as the most profitable in Central Massachusetts, according to data released Thursday.

Yet the facility’s operator, Gardner-based Heywood Healthcare, warns Athol’s financial results do not reflect the system's financial health as a whole, which has only just emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy a year ago.

Athol Hospital ended this past fiscal year with both its total and operation margins sitting at 9.2%, according to a report released Thursday by the Center for Health Information and Analysis documenting the state’s hospital and health system financial performances. Included in the report were the financial metrics of 10 Central Massachusetts hospitals.

Athol Hospital generated a total profit of $4.21 million in fiscal 2024, according to CHIA’s data, but Heywood CFO John Bujak warned singling out solely the facility’s figures can be misleading.

“You have to look at the system as a whole. So the system as a whole lost nearly $14 million last year. A good chunk of it was bankruptcy-related costs,” Bujak said. “When you look at just Athol independently, it doesn't really take into where those costs lie in the system.”

The total profit margin for the Heywood-owned Heywood Hospital in Gardner during the same timeframe was -5.4%, with its operating margin slightly lower at -5.5%, the third-lowest figures in the region. In total, CHIA reports Heywood Hospital lost $10.44 million last fiscal year.

Heywood Healthcare originally filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October 2023, which included both Athol and Heywood hospitals. The system exited bankruptcy almost exactly a year later in September 2024.

While Heywood Hospital’s figures are sobering, they were far from the lowest performing in the region. That title belonged to Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer, which was closed by its parent company Dallas-headquartered Steward Health Care amid its own bankruptcy proceedings.

On Tuesday, Worcester-based UMass Memorial Health celebrated construction beginning on the system’s satellite emergency department in Groton designed to help meet the needs of Nashoba Valley’s 115,000 residents left without their regional hospital following the medical center’s closure.

For UMass Memorial Health, the system's UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester ended last fiscal year in the green with a 2.6% total margin and 1.9% operating margin. Additionally, UMMC, the largest hospital in Central Massachusetts, reported the highest profit of the 10 regional facilities analyzed by CHIA, generating $77.14 million.

At 21.4%, Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital had the highest total margin of all Massachusetts hospitals last fiscal year, yet it fell into the red with its operational margin at -15.9%.

With $528.63 million in total profit, Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston generated the most profit of all the state’s hospitals in fiscal year 2024.

The now-closed Steward-owned Carney Hospital in Boston had both the lowest total and operating margins at -39.9%. The hospital’s fellow Steward-run facility St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Brighton, now known as Boston Medical Center - Brighton, lost the most financially with a total loss of $68.44 million.

“The financial stability of Massachusetts hospitals is critical to a well-functioning healthcare system, and CHIA continues to monitor their stability through a variety of metrics and analyses,” Lauren Peters, executive director of CHIA, said in a Thursday press release. “This year’s report shows continued volatility in the system, albeit widely varied across hospitals.”

"CHIA’s report is just the latest piece of evidence showing how tumultuous the financial landscape has been for Massachusetts hospitals and health systems. With more than half of all hospitals operating in the red and three quarters of hospital health systems – which include affiliated physician practices – reporting losses, the cost pressures that local providers were facing in FY24 took an undeniable toll. Unfortunately, those pressures continue today, and the long-term outlook is even more daunting with changes forthcoming at the federal level," Daniel McHale, senior vice president, healthcare finance & policy at the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association, said in Thursday email.

Financial metrics for the 10 Central Massachusetts hospitals analyzed by CHIA are below:

Nashoba Valley Medical Center, in Ayer
Total margin: -15.2%
Operating margin: -15.2%
Total profit (loss): ($5,845,759)

MetroWest Medical Center, In Framingham and Natick
Total margin: -11.8%
Operating margin: -12.4%
Total profit (loss): ($22,400,000)

Heywood Hospital, in Gardner
Total margin: -5.4%
Operating margin: -5.5%
Total profit (loss): ($10,440,278)

UMass Memorial Health - Milford Regional Medical Center
Total margin: -1.5%
Operating margin: -3.8%
Total profit (loss): ($4,449,600)

Saint Vincent Hospital, in Worcester
Total margin: 0.5%
Operating margin: 0.5%
Total profit (loss): $2,300,000

UMass Memorial Medical Center, in Worcester
Total margin: 2.6%
Operating margin: 1.9%
Total profit (loss): $77,137,000

UMass Memorial Health - Harrington Hospital, in Southbridge
Total margin: 4.8%
Operating margin: -5.8%
Total profit (loss): $9,336,000

UMass Memorial Health - Marlborough Hospital
Total margin: 4.8%
Operating margin: 1.2%
Total profit (loss): $6,177,000

UMass Memorial HealthAlliance-Clinton Hospital, in Leominster
Total margin: 8.1%
Operating margin: 3.9%
Total profit (loss): $25,137,000

Athol Hospital
Total margin: 9.2%
Operating margin: 9.2%
Total profit (loss): $4,206,141

Mica Kanner-Mascolo is a staff writer at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the healthcare and diversity, equity, and inclusion industries.