Jim Skogsbergh, CEO of Milwaukee and Downers Grove, Ill.-based Advocate Aurora Health, reported a revenue loss of about $300 million for the health system's Wisconsin operations in April, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Mr. Skogsbergh reported the decline during a virtual Greater Milwaukee Committee May membership meeting.
"It’s been an unmitigated disaster financially, economically," Mr. Skogsbergh said during the meeting. "And that's true of any business that is forced to close or shut down significantly."
The financial news comes as revenue-generating nonemergency services halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic and after Advocate Aurora Health, a 28-hospital system, set a goal in January to more than double its annual revenue by 2025.
Mr. Skogsbergh said during the April revenue slide for its Wisconsin operations, there have been higher costs for personal protective equipment for workers, according to the Sentinel.
He said Advocate Aurora as of May 11 was treating nearly 700 COVID-19 patients at its facilities in Wisconsin and Illinois. About 100 of those patients are in Wisconsin, including St. Luke's Medical Center in Milwaukee.
"Our numbers are flattening. We are not yet on the downhill side of this, but we are flattening," said Mr. Skogsbergh.
Meanwhile, he said the organization is also preparing to ramp up nonemergency services, which he acknowledged is "more like turning a dial than flipping a switch."
He said Advocate Aurora will bring people back to work as cases are added to the schedule.
Listen to Mr. Skogsbergh's full comments here.