Baltimore-based GBMC Healthcare reported an overall loss of $33.6 million for the six months ended Dec. 31 but saw a marked improvement in the final quarter of the year as investment values rose.
While expense and investment values helped drag down the six-month figure, a relative rebound in investment returns in the final three months of the year saw the overall loss for that period total just $3.6 million. The figures compare with an overall profit of $21.5 million for the same six-month period in 2021.
"Excess expenses over revenue were primarily due to the nursing labor market, the transition to an employed anesthesiologist model, and unrealized losses on investments," management said in the filing.
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the health system has experienced an "unprecedented increase" in contract labor costs, management said. For example, such expenses in the 2022 period totaled $13.6 million, compared with a pre-pandemic level of $1.9 million.
"This experience is consistent with national trends in the industry," management said. "The company has deployed several strategies to mitigate the impact going forward."
GBMC operated 235 licensed beds at the end of December at its flagship Greater Baltimore Medical Center.