Carson-Tahoe Hospital profits down in 2005

Carson-Tahoe Hospital's profits dropped sharply in 2005 but the new regional medical center still turned a tidy profit, according to an annual state report.

The comparative analysis for Nevada hospitals show the Carson Tahoe Regional Medical Center reported $2.59 million net operating profit for the year, less than half the $6.2 million reported for calendar 2004. That is the profit from hospital operations only. Many medical centers also have profit or losses from nonhospital services.

The most profitable hospital in Nevada during 2005 was Washoe Medical Center which reported $43.4 million in profit compared to $28.9 million the year before.

St. Mary's in Reno, by comparison, reported a loss of $15.6 million for calendar 2005 on top of its $10.3 million loss in 2004.

Washoe Medical's profit was more than the $42.8 million total net profit reported by all 12 Clark County hospitals.

The most profitable Southern Nevada hospitals were Desert Springs and Summerlin, both comparatively wealthy areas, which reported profits of $19.7 million and $27.2 million respectively.

Hospital officials were unavailable to discuss the figures due to the Veterans Day holiday, but a significant portion of the decrease in net profits is almost certainly tied to the costs of building and moving to the new regional medical center in North Carson City.

For 2005, C-TH reported total billed charges of $312.6 million. After deductions, the hospital reported $126.9 million in operating revenue and $124.3 million in expenses.

The hospital's operating revenue, however, was reduced slightly by nonoperating expenses to $2.48 million for the year.

A total of 9,363 admissions were logged during 2005 for a total of 32,113 in-patient days. The average patient spent 3.5 days in the hospital and, on any given day, there were 88 patients.

The average billed charges per patient come to $21,760.

Carson Valley Medical Center in Douglas County also turned a profit in 2005, netting $2.76 million from a total $47.9 million in billed charges. While operating revenue at Carson Valley was $23.1 million, expenses were $20.4 million. Patients stayed there an average of 3 days and were billed an average of $12,411 for the care they received.

Incline Village Community Hospital made a profit of $271,778 in 2005 on $9.4 million in billings. The average patient stay was 2.5 days and the average bill for that stay, $15,580.

Washoe Medical, recently renamed Renown, had total billed charges of nearly $1.3 billion in 2005, operating revenues of $430.8 million and expenses totaling $387.4 million. That came from more than 26,000 patients who each stayed an average of five days and ran up charges of $35,415.

Washoe Medical's operating profit was boosted another $8 million by non-operating revenues for a total net of $51 million.

The hospital which ran up the most red ink during 2005 was Southern Hills Hospital in Clark County. Southern Hills lost $37 million this year on top of the $31.2 million it lost last year. The next biggest money loser was Saint Mary's in Reno, followed by University Medical Center in Las Vegas, which handles a large share of indigent and low-income cases in Southern Nevada. UMC's bottom line was a negative $14.3 million in 2005.

• Contact reporter Geoff Dornan at gdornan@nevadaappeal.com or 687-8750.