Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1161749
25 CFO / FINANCE Nurses challenge sale, closure of Pennsylvania hospitals By Ayla Ellison T he Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals is challenging the planned closure of Hahnemann University Hospital and object- ing to proposed bidding and auction pro- cedures to be used for the sale of St. Chris- topher's Hospital for Children, according to Bloomberg Law. Hahnemann and St. Christopher's, both in Philadelphia, were included in a June 30 Chapter 11 bankruptcy case filed by Phil- adelphia Academic Health System, a sub- sidiary of El Segundo, Calif.-based Ameri- can Academic Health System. PAHS plans to close Hahnemann in September and sell St. Christopher's. In court documents filed July 23, the Pennsyl- vania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals urged Philadelphia Academic Health System to keep both hospitals open. e union said Hahnemann should be sold through an auction supervised by the bank- ruptcy court, according to Bloomberg Law. e Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurs- es and Allied Professionals also wants to en- sure its collective bargaining agreement with St. Christopher's is honored by the hospital's buyer. e union, which represents roughly 400 nurses and clinicians at St. Christopher's, said the sale agreement should state that the purchaser is obligated to "recognize, honor, assume and cure the collective bargaining agreement and the accrued unpaid employ- ee benefits," according to the court filing ob- tained by Bloomberg Law. American Academic Health System acquired St. Christopher's and Hahnemann from Dal- las-based Tenet Healthcare in January 2018. In April 2019, AAHS said Hahnemann was losing $3 million to $5 million a month and may have to close. e hospital began scaling back services in July and officials plan to shut down the facility by Sept. 6. Hahnemann is the teaching hospital of Drex- el University College of Medicine in Philadel- phia. e hospital announced July 24 that it was releasing physicians in training to ensure they can transfer to another hospital. "Helping our residents and fellows continue their training and launch their careers with a minimum of disruption has been a top pri- ority of our closure plans," said interim CEO of Philadelphia Academic Health System Ron Dreskin, according to CBS Philly. "e hos- pital is using an orderly approach to release the residents and fellows to ensure patients are still being safely cared for as Hahnemann winds down operations." n Texas hospital closes By Ayla Ellison F inancial challenges forced Hamlin (Texas) Memorial Hos- pital to close July 31. Declining patient volume and dwindling reimbursement rates were among the factors that led to the hospital's closure, ac- cording to a July 2 announcement from the hospital's board of directors. "Over the past many years inpatient utilization has decreased to the point that there are many days that there is no one in the hospital," the hospital said. "After an in-depth study of all de- partments in the hospital, income vs. expenses, it became very evident that Medicare, Medicaid, and most private insurance reimbursements did not come close to covering continually rising expenses. A declining tax base and tax payment delin- quencies have also contributed to the financial hardships." Patricia Barnett, president of the hospital district's board of di- rectors, thanked local citizens for their support in a letter pub- lished on the hospital's Facebook page July 31. "With a heavy heart, I am writing this to you, the citizens of Hamlin Hospital District. Today marks the end of an era of healthcare for us. Our beloved Hamlin Memorial Hospital will close its doors tonight at midnight," she wrote. "As I walked through the halls of our hospital for the last time today, so many memories flooded through my mind. I can say with all certainty that we did our job well, with love, dedication and pride for the patients that graced our doorways." Ms. Barnett said Hamlin Medical Clinic, a walk-in clinic, will re- main open. n UnitedHealth records $3.3B profit in Q2 By Morgan Haefner U nitedHealth Group saw its revenue and net income increase in the second quarter of 2019, buoyed by growth in its Medicare and Optum lines. UnitedHealth recorded total revenues of $60.6 billion in the second quarter ended June 30, up 8 percent from $56.1 billion in the same quarter a year prior, according to financial documents. Double-digit rev- enue growth in its UnitedHealthcare Medicare and Retirement, OptumRx and OptumHealth lines led the increase. UnitedHealth's health insurance arm, UnitedHealth- care, saw some of its largest revenue gains in its Medi- care Advantage and retirement segment, which grew $2 billion year over year. UnitedHealthcare's Medi- care Advantage products grew to serve an additional 400,000 members year over year. Optum brought in $28 billion in revenue for United- Health in the second quarter of 2019, up $3.3 billion year over year. UnitedHealth's operating costs also increased year over year to $55.9 billion in 2019, up 7.7 percent from $51.9 billion. After accounting for expenses, United- Health ended the second quarter with net income of $3.3 billion, up 12.7 percent from $2.9 billion recorded in the same quarter of 2018. n