During times of financial strain, be it from the effects of the pandemic, high inflation rates, or low sales, the top of every CFO’s list is lowering costs. Although that’s an important goal, CFOs should focus on more strategic efforts, especially optimizing their product or service portfolios. Only then can they ensure business sustainability and profitability.
Hospital operators in the U.S. are likely to see a dip in fourth-quarter profits as an ongoing staffing crunch limits their ability to take advantage of an early onset of the flu season and boost admissions.
HCA Healthcare, the largest for-profit hospital operator in the United States and the first to report quarterly earnings, cited impact from the COVID-19 pandemic and high inflation for its disappointing annual profit forecast.
Immediately after Dr. Valory Wangler opened a nonprofit health center serving Gallup and McKinley County last year, patients started to pour through her doors. “We certainly could tell that we had identified a critical need,” said Wangler, founder and executive director of Gallup Community Health.
The financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic goes beyond just patients with recurring infections or lingering health challenges. It also effects hospitals in caring for patients with chronic conditions who delayed care out of concern for contracting the virus in health settings.