Becker's Hospital Review

15 CFO / FINANCE Top 7 billionaires in US healthcare By Kelly Gooch An HCA Healthcare co-founder and shareholder tops the list of billionaires in U.S. healthcare. Here are the top seven U.S. healthcare leaders on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index as of Feb. 21, ranked on descending net worth. 1. omas Frist Jr., MD: $22.6 billion Dr. Frist is a co-founder and major shareholder of HCA Healthcare, a for-profit hospital operator based in Nashville, Tenn. HCA operates 182 hospitals and more than 2,300 care sites in 20 states and the United Kingdom. 2. Carl Cook: $10.4 billion Mr. Cook is owner and CEO of Cook Group, a medical device manufacturer based in Bloomington, Ind. 3. Patrick Soon-Shiong, MD: $8.7 billion Dr. Soon-Shiong invented the cancer drug Abraxane. He sold APP Pharmaceuticals to Fresenius Medical Care for $4.6 billion in 2008, and Abraxis BioScience to Celgene for $2.8 billion in 2010. 4. Ronda Stryker: $7.9 billion Ms. Stryker is the director of and the largest individual shareholder in Stryker Corp., a medical equipment company. She owns 6 percent of the company. 5. Li Ge, PhD: $6.4 billion Dr. Ge is chairman and CEO of WuXi AppTec, a a global R&D and manufacturing services company. 6. Reinhold Schmieding: $6.2 billion Mr. Schmieding is the founder and president of Arthrex, a surgical device maker based in Naples, Fla. 7. Pat Stryker: $6.2 billion Ms. Stryker is a shareholder of Stryker Corp., a medical equipment company founded by her grandfather. n Community Health Systems, Novant ink dual-hospital sale By Alexis Kayser F ranklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems has signed a definitive agreement to sell two hospitals to Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Novant Health. Subsidiaries of CHS will sell Lake Norman Regional Med- ical Center in Mooresville, N.C., and Davis Regional Med- ical Center in Statesville, N.C., and their associated assets to Novant Health for cash consideration of approximately $320 million, according to a Feb. 28 news release shared with Becker's. The sale comes as Davis Regional Medical Center is transi- tioning from a general acute care hospital to an inpatient behavioral health hospital. The transaction is expected to close later in 2023, accord- ing to CHS' news release. n Trinity Health reports almost $300M operating loss as expenses continue to rise By Nick Thomas L ivonia, Mich.-based Trinity Health, one of the largest nonprofit health systems in the country, reported an operating loss of approximately $298 million for the six months ending Dec. 31 as expenses continued to exert pressure. That figure compared with a $295.8 million operating gain in the same period in 2021. The system, which operates 88 hospitals across the country, reported an overall loss of $33.4 million for the six months compared with net income of $923.1 million in 2021. Total expenses for the 2022 period increased 6.7 percent over 2021 to reach $10.7 billion. Contract labor jumped 52 percent to total $405 million as Trinity absorbed acqui- sitions, notably the buying out of CommonSpirit Health in the MercyOne venture. The health system was beginning to see some improve- ment in its cost base as it devotes strong controls over contract labor and invests in its permanent staff as well as increasingly relies on its own internal staffing agency, Trin- ity said. "Total operating costs per case mix equivalent discharge has improved during the second quarter of fiscal year 2023 compared to the first quarter of fiscal year 2023 as the corporation continues to tightly manage operating costs amid rising inflation," Trinity said. n

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