While fewer hospitals lost money in fiscal 2004, council executive director Marc P. Volavka cautioned that "one year of improved margins does not constitute a trend, and the continuing lag in Medicare reimbursements should send out red flags."
But hospital administrators are more concerned about budget proposals in Washington and Harrisburg that would cut billions of dollars from the Medicaid program, which provides medical coverage to poor people.
After years of belt-tightening, some area hospitals are making money, but many still have losses, said Andrew Wigglesworth, president of the Delaware Valley Healthcare Council, which represents local hospitals.
"The overall financial condition of hospitals in this region is very weak," Wigglesworth said. "The institutions as a whole are in no position to absorb the types of reductions that are being contemplated."
South Jersey hospitals face similar hurdles, said Kerry McKean-Kelly, a spokeswoman for the New Jersey Hospital Association.
Data from the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services show that half of the 12 hospitals in Burlington, Camden and Gloucester Counties lost money in 2003, the most recent year for which data are available. The combined operating margin for those hospitals was 1.2 percent.
In Pennsylvania, Tenet's hospitals, led by Graduate Hospital at 18th and Lombard Streets in Philadelphia, dragged down the results.
Excluding those facilities, Philadelphia hospitals' overall margin improved from 1.7 percent to 3 percent. Twenty-seven area hospitals made money, while the remaining 20 had losses, the council found.
Tenet has sold or closed three of those hospitals, and progress is being made at the five remaining hospitals, said Steve Corbeil, senior vice president of operations for Tenet's Central Northeast-Southern States Region.
