WCHS financials looking good

Alexis Barker
NLJ Reporter
 
Financial reports are looking good for Weston County Health Services, according to CEO Maureen Cadwell, although she admits there is still more to be done. 
On Dec. 20, during the board of trustees meeting, Cadwell reported that year-to-date revenue has exceeded the budgeted amount by almost $300,000 in gross revenue. The net patient revenue is also above budget by $311,000 and operating revenue is above budget by $545,000, she said. 
“Getting done with the construction and opening up the entire facility to all services provided and having the EPIC conversion behind us, the future is looking good. We are halfway through the year and numbers are looking good,” Cadwell later told the News Letter Journal. 
According to Cadwell, the increased revenue the facility is seeing is coming through outpatient services. She noted that this includes emergency room visits, lab testing, radiology testing and physical therapy among other services. 
“If you look at the lab, that is where a good part of our revenue is coming from,” Cadwell said. 
During the budget process, she said, revenue for lab services was budgeted at $956,000, while the actual year-to-date revenue is at roughly $1.14 million, making the lab’s revenue $184,000 over budgeted revenue. 
Radiology is another area seeing revenue exceeding budget. Cadwell reported that budgeted revenue for radiology was $1.35 million and year-to-date revenue exceeds $1.53 million, or $180,000 over budget. 
“We broke that down to see where that is coming from. CAT scan numbers are up and ultrasound numbers are up,” Cadwell said. 
She noted that departments not reaching the budgeted revenue amount are also included in the report. The emergency room is slightly under budget, with budgeted revenue of $1.5 million and actual revenue to date at $1.49 million, she said. 
A lot goes into determining a hospital facility’s financial reports, according to Cadwell. She explained that the facility also has examined contractuals, expenses and other revenue, which all play a part in determining how well a facility is performing. 
The facility has also seen an increase in expenses. According to a report provided by Cadwell, year-to-date the facility is $331,134 over the budgeted $9,026,154. 
“When you figure our total budget is over $10 million, that is not too bad,” Cadwell said. 
She noted that the increased expenses have been in purchased services ($206,900) and supplies, which is over budget by $94,000. Cadwell added that purchased services includes some contract staff. 
“The vast majority of our budget is salaries and wages,” Cadwell said. “Year-to-date, including benefits, 56 percent of our expenses is salaries and wages. We are a service industry. We don’t manufacture anything, and our biggest cost is the people providing the services.” 
She added that another 12 percent of the budgeted expense falls into purchased services, which again are the people providing the services at the facility. 
With all things considered, Cadwell said, the facility’s year-to-date net income is $601,711, which is $183,079 more than the budget estimate. 
“Honestly, the income statement looks pretty good right now and that is a positive. There is still a lot of work to be done that brings in the cash,” Cadwell said.