The COVID-19 pandemic affected the largest nonprofit health systems' financial and operating performance in the three months ended March 31.
Ascension, a 150-hospital system based in St. Louis, reported operating revenue of $6.1 billion in the third quarter of fiscal year 2020, which ended March 31, down 2.5 percent from the same period a year earlier. Net patient service revenue dramatically declined in March due to a drop in patient volume attributed to the pandemic. The health system ended the most recent quarter with an operating loss of $429.4 million, compared to operating income of $80.1 million a year earlier.
Chicago-based CommonSpirit Health, which operates 137 hospitals, reported revenue of $7.3 billion in the three months ended March 31, up slightly from a year earlier, and operating expenses climbed 7.7 percent year over year to $8 billion. The health system said it incurred significant expenses to secure extra personal protective equipment and reorganize staffing to meet the needs of intensive care and emergency department units. CommonSpirit ended the most recent quarter with an operating loss of $145 million, compared to a pro forma operating loss of $124 million a year earlier.
Trinity Health, a 92-hospital system based in Livonia, Mich., reported operating revenue of $4.5 billion in the three months ended March 31, compared to $4.8 billion a year earlier. The health system ended the most recent quarter with an operating loss of $206.1 million, compared to operating income of $37 million in the same period last year. The health system said the pandemic added $14.1 million of costs in March.