Worcester Business Journal

www.wbjournal.com • Worcester Business Journal • 2 023 Economic Forecast 29 WBJ WEBCAST SERIES WBJ WEBCAST FORUMS WBJ WEBCAST FORUMS WBJ WEBCAST FORUMS WBJ WEBCAST SERIES A WBJ WEBCAST SERIES A Elizabeth Wambui Director of Diversity, Inclusion and Community Impact, Fontaine Bros., Inc. WEBCAST PANELISTS: Valerie Zolezzi-Wyndam Founder and Owner, Promoting Good, LLC Brian Gibbs Vice President & Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer, UMass Memorial Health System MODERATOR: Sheila King-Goodwin SVP, Chief Community Banking Officer, and Chairperson of the Inclusion & Diversity Advisory Board and Advisory Council, Fidelity Bank Presenting Sponsor Supporting Sponsor Thank you to all of our speakers, sponsors and everyone who signed on to watch WBJ's annual DE&I webcast. View the recording at this link! www.wbjournal.com/diversity H E A LT H C A R E and for budgetary reasons, which Carolyn Jackson, CEO of the Tenet market in Massachusetts, confirmed with the MetroWest Daily News earlier this year. e MetroWest Medical Center has two facilities in Central Massachusetts: Framingham Union Hospital in Fram- ingham and Leonard Morse Hospital in Natick. Tenet also operates Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester. Tenet purchased the hospitals from Vanguard Health Systems in 2013. Tus Medicine comprises the Tus Medical Center in Boston, Lowell General Hospital, MelroseWakefield Hospital, Lawrence Memorial Hospi- tal of Medford, Care at Home, and an integrated physician network. It is the teaching affiliate for Tus University School of Medicine in Boston. Central Mass. hospital profits dropped significantly over last year Hospital profits have fallen signifi- cantly across the state, including hospi- tal systems based in Central Massachu- setts, according to the latest report by the Center for Health Information and Analysis. e CHIA, an independent state agency that monitors and provides anal- ysis for the healthcare industry in Mas- sachusetts, released its latest quarterly report on the financial performance of hospital systems across the state on June 30, measuring profit margins from March 2021 to March 2022. e report showed median operating margins for hospitals across the state had fallen into negative territory during that timespan, with such profits at -2.5% statewide, down 2.7 percentage points from March 2021. Teaching hospitals ex- perienced the biggest drop, going from an operating margin of 1.4% to 4.6%. For median total margins, hospitals experienced a decrease of 6.8 percent- age points, for a total profit of -3.1%. e UMass Memorial Health system, which operates several hospitals across Central Massachusetts, reported an operating margin of -7.4% over the last six months across its locations. UMass Memorial Medical Center, its flagship hospital with campuses in Worcester, reported operating margins of -5.1%. Hospitals in Central Massachu- setts run by Tenet Healthcare Corp., a nationwide for-profit company based in Texas, posted significant profit losses over the past year. Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester reported both operational and total margin losses of -11.2% over the past three months, while MetroWest Medical Center in Framingham posted operational losses of -12.5%. Other healthcare systems based in Central Mass include Milford Regional Medical Center, whose hospital and physician group combined for -1.3% operating margin, and Heywood Healthcare in Gardner, with operating margins of 0.3%. In the time since the report's timespan, Heywood has entered in an agreement to join the UMass Memorial system. In a statement put out by the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association, the reports depiction of a struggling healthcare system in the state in 2022 can be attributed to the surging inflation across the country, as well as lingering effects from the COVID-19 pandemic, including the Omicron vari- ant spike in cases. "Inflation has added an entirely new layer to healthcare organizations' finan- cial pressures in 2022," said the MHA statement. "Unlike other sectors, providers cannot simply pass along the increased costs of labor, energy, and supplies to con- sumers." e statement noted ongoing state and federal pandemic relief funds had helped hospitals maintain operation despite such losses. W Healthcare providers train on the electronic medical records system at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester. PHOTO | EDD COTE

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