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66 CFO / FINANCE Alabama hospital to open $250M replacement facility in December By Alia Paavola A $250 million replacement facili- ty for Florence, Ala.-based Eliza C of fee Memorial Hospital will op en Dec. 6, according to WHNT. Here are three things to know ab out the facility. 1. C onstr uction for the replacement fa- cility, dubb ed the Nor th Alabama Medi- cal C enter, b egan two years ago and will wrap up ahead of schedule. It will also b e lo cated in Florence. 2. Patients will b e transferred f rom ECMH to the new facility up on its com- pletion. 3. While plans on what will happ en to ECMH after its vacated have yet to b e announced, Florence city leaders say the aged facility will likely b e torn down. n Beaumont Health's net income up, operating income dips in 2017: 4 things to know By Morgan Haefner S outhfield, Mich.-based Beaumont Health saw net income increase 12.2 percent in fiscal year 2017 compared to fiscal year 2016, while operating income dipped during the same period year over year. Here are four things to know about the nonprofit health system's fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 2017, according to financial documents. 1. Beaumont Health reported operating income after other items of $195.56 million in 2016, compared to $151.87 million in 2017. Beaumont Health CFO John Kerndl attributed the decrease to a planned market adjustment for em- ployees in 2017 that increased salary costs. He also pointed to an annuiti- zation of a pension, which drove a noncash expense of $25 million in 2017. 2. Beaumont Health posted revenues of $4.44 billion in the year ended Dec. 31, 2017, up from $4.37 billion in the previous year. Mr. Kerndl said there were several contributors to the increase, including a material rise in acuity in a number of the system's hospitals; new revenue cycle initiatives aimed at denial management and underpayments; and favorable payer relationships, in- cluding a 2017 payer settlement that drove a year-over-year rise in net revenue. 3. The nonprofit health system saw expenses climb to $4.26 billion in 2017, up from $4.17 billion during 2016. Beaumont saw salary, wages and benefits expenses climb 5.8 percent during that period. 4. After including nonoperating gains, Beaumont Health ended 2017 with net income of $321.58 million, up from net income of $286.70 million recorded in 2016. Mr. Kerndl said strong investment income in 2017 exceeded Beau- mont's previous fiscal year by $88 million. n Summa Health improves on projected financial loss: 4 things to know By Kelly Gooch A kron, Ohio-based Summa Health's financial improve- ment efforts remain focused on adjustments to staffing levels, boosts to revenue cycle collections and efforts to increase patient levels, according to a report on Cleveland. com. Here are four things to know. 1. The system reported an operating loss of $33 million in the first half of 2017, according to the report. 2. The report states Summa Health ended 2017 with a $28 million loss in operating income, less than the $60 million loss in operating income pre- viously projected. 3. Overall, the system's goal is to ulti- mately improve its operating margin from negative 2.1 percent in 2017 to 1.5 or 2 percent, said interim CFO Thomas O'Neill, according to the re- port. Summa Health anticipates a 0.9 percent operating margin in 2018. 4. To achieve this goal, the system be- gan making various financial changes in 2017. Last June, it revealed plans to cut about 300 positions to help offset operating losses. About half of those positions were vacant. Mr. O'Neill said in the report Summa Health is also paying attention to revenue cycle to ensure proper reimbursement for ser- vices rendered, as well as working to increase outpatient volume to med- ical groups through extended phy- sician office hours and other means. Additionally, some employees contin- ue to focus on identifying operational areas for efficiency improvement. n