Like many other health systems, Raleigh, N.C.-based WakeMed is incurring losses due the rising cost of labor and drugs, Triangle Business Journal reported July 14.
The health system posted a $107.5 million loss in fiscal year 2022. In 2021, WakeMed had an operating income of about $47.4 million.
"When people cost you more – which is your number expense – and then supplies and drugs and equipment cost you more, but you're not able to increase what you get paid at the same rate, it creates a real challenge," WakeMed CEO Donald Gintzig told the Journal.
So far, in 2023, there are signs that healthcare wage inflation is cooling.