Ballad Health in Johnson City, Tenn., said "exceptional expense management" helped improve its finances in the third quarter of fiscal 2019.
The 21-hospital nonprofit health system saw its revenue increase 1.4 percent to $528.8 million in the three months ended March 31, compared to $521.7 million reported in the same period a year prior, according to unaudited financial documents.
Ballad saw its expenses decline less than 1 percent in the third quarter of this year to $521.7 million, compared to $522.8 million in the same quarter of last year. The system said the decrease led "to an improvement in the operating margins for the health system."
Ballad posted an operating gain of $7.1 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2019, turning around a $1 million operating loss in the same period a year before.
After including nonoperating gains, Ballad ended the quarter with net income of $66.6 million, compared to a net loss of $26.1 million in the same quarter during fiscal 2018.
"Ballad Health's financial performance improved through exceptional expense management, including a 31.3 percent reduction in the use of contract — or temporary — labor, improvements in productivity and focused supply cost management," the system said. Ballad also noted it "invested $266.3 million into the region's labor force."
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