Rockledge, Fla.-based Health First reported an operating loss of almost $75 million in fiscal 2022 as expenses rose to over $2 billion, an increase of more than 11 percent.
The hike in expenses and a steep decline in investment returns meant the healthcare system recorded an overall loss of $232.5 million in the year ended Sept. 30 compared with a net gain of $189.3 million in 2021.
The Health First system includes four acute care hospitals with the 550-bed facility, the Holmes Regional Medical Center, the largest. The system also operates a Medicare health management organization and a commercial insurance plan, as well as primary care centers.
The system is partly owned by Altamonte Springs, Fla.-based AdventHealth, which has a non-controlling stake in Health First, effective Jan. 3, 2020.
Health First plans to invest over $500 million in an expansion project, which will include the building of a new 120-bed hospital.