New York City-based Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center ended the first quarter of 2020 with an operating loss, despite seeing revenue increase year over year, according to recently released financial documents.
Memorial Sloan Kettering's operating revenue increased 8.2 percent year over year to $1.4 billion in the first quarter of this year. The hospital said a decline in patient volume in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic hindered further revenue growth.
The hospital's operating expenses also increased in the first quarter of this year. Memorial Sloan Kettering reported operating expenses of $1.5 billion, up 19 percent from a year earlier. Treatment of patients with COVID-19 and start-up costs associated with opening the David H. Koch Center for Cancer Care pushed expenses higher in the first quarter of 2020.
Memorial Sloan Kettering ended the first quarter of this year with an operating loss of $61.9 million, compared to operating income of $65.3 million in the same period of 2019.
Though the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected the hospital's finances, the ultimate impact on its financial performance is unknown. To help offset financial damage from the pandemic, Memorial Sloan Kettering has received about $70 million from various federal relief funds. The hospital has also received about $421 million in advance Medicare payments from CMS, which must be repaid.