Despite COVID-19 expenses and taking a $67 million hit from a cyberattack last year, King of Prussia, Pa.-based Universal Health Services ended 2020 with a $944 million profit, according to financial documents released Feb. 25. This net income was a growth of 15.8 percent year over year.
In the 12 months ended Dec. 31, the for-profit hospital operator saw its revenue hit $11.6 billion in 2020, up slightly from $11.4 billion recorded in 2019. It also saw its expenses rise less than 1 percent to $10.2 billion.
After factoring in the expenses, UHS recorded an operating income of $1.4 billion for 2020, up from $1.2 billion recorded in 2019.
UHS also said the cyberattack experienced from Sept. 27, 2020 into October 2020, negatively affected its financial results. UHS said that it was forced to divert patients to competitor facilities, saw significant increases in labor expenses to restore its networks and saw administrative functions such as coding and billing delayed into December, "which had a negative impact on our operating cash flows during the fourth quarter of 2020."
UHS said the breach had an unfavorable pretax effect of $67 million, with $55 million coming in the fourth quarter of 2020 and $12 million in the third quarter of 2020.
UHS also said it recorded $413 million in grant revenue from the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security Act and other government aid in 2020.
In the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, UHS recorded a net income of $308.7 million on revenue of $3.1 billion. This compares to a net income of $245.2 million on revenue of $2.9 billion in the fourth quarter of 2019.
In the three-month period, UHS saw its net income grow to $414 million, up from $341 million recorded in the same quarter one year prior.