Net income attributable to Nashville, Tenn.-based Hospital Corp. of America rose 8.2 percent in the second quarter of 2013 to $423 million thanks mostly to a boost in admissions and stable surgery cases.
In a news release, HCA Chairman and CEO Richard Bracken said the positive second-quarter results were also due to "increasing acuity and favorable expense management by our operating teams." Same-hospital admissions increased 1.3 percent, while equivalent admissions went up 1.1 percent. Inpatient surgeries ticked up 0.2 percent, and emergency room visits increased 0.8 percent.
Income before taxes shot up 15.3 percent, just as HCA executives had predicted in mid-July. Total revenue in the second quarter increased 4.2 percent to $8.45 billion, and adjusted EBITDA also climbed to $1.69 billion from $1.57 billion in the same period a year ago.
For the first half of 2013, HCA's profit totaled $767 million — a 17.6 percent drop from the first six months of 2012. HCA, like many other for-profit hospital operators, experienced lagging inpatient and outpatient volumes in the first quarter. Revenues in the half year reached $16.9 billion, up from $16.5 billion in the same period last year.
Currently, HCA operates 161 hospitals and 114 ambulatory surgery centers. However, last month, HCA signed a definitive agreement with Franklin, Tenn.-based IASIS Healthcare to acquire the three hospitals IASIS owns in Florida. Both parties expect the transaction to close by the end of this year. Also, earlier this week, HCA announced Mr. Bracken will retire as CEO of the for-profit hospital chain in December, but he will remain chairman of HCA's board until December 2014. HCA President and CFO R. Milton Johnson will become CEO, effective Jan. 1, 2014.
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