Lifespan grew revenue 3.7% in 2013, spent $71M on charity care

LIFESPAN ON TUESDAY released its 2013 annual report, showing that the health care system increased operating revenue 3.7 percent but saw its net income drop almost 60 percent.
LIFESPAN ON TUESDAY released its 2013 annual report, showing that the health care system increased operating revenue 3.7 percent but saw its net income drop almost 60 percent.

PROVIDENCE – The Lifespan nonprofit health care system generated total operating revenue of $1.7 billion in 2013, with total operating expenses of $1.72 billion and net income of $17 million, according to Lifespan’s annual financial statement.

Operating revenue increased 3.7 percent over 2012, when Lifespan posted operating revenue of $1.64 billion.

The operating loss for 2013, however, reversed net operating gains of $17.9 million and $4.9 million in 2012 and 2011, respectively. Net income in 2012 was almost 60 percent higher than in 2013 at $41 million, but 2013 represented improvement over 2011’s net loss of $9.2 million, which reflected a one-time litigation expense.

Lifespan had previously attributed the drop in net income in part to a 23 percent increase in its provision for bad debt and a 6.9 percent increase in compensation and benefits expenses.

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Net patient service revenue last year was $1.52 billion, and research funding brought in $82.4 million in revenue, compared with $1.46 billion in patient service revenue for 2012 and $80.9 million in research revenue. Lifespan’s total assets amounted to $2.44 billion in 2013.

In the financial report’s opening letter, President and CEO Dr. Timothy J. Babineau and Chairman of the Board Scott B. Laurans reflected on the evolution of Lifespan’s five-partner system in the 20 years since its founding in 1994.

“In essence, we have re-imagined and reinvented ourselves, moving from a hospital-based system to a system whose goal is to provide the care people need, wherever and whenever they need it,” Babineau and Laurans wrote. “Yet, in the essence of Lifespan has not changed – our patients are at the heart of everything we do. And in the years ahead, as we continue to evolve, we will continue to base every decision on what is best for our patients.”

Lifespan spent more than $71 million to provide charity care to local communities last year, according to the annual report, in addition to $16.8 million in research spending, $27.9 million in subsidized health services and $71.2 million in medical education.

Lifespan hospitals, which include three teaching hospitals of Brown University’s Warren Alpert Medical School, train almost 600 residents and fellows each year, Lifespan said, rotating through more than 70 training programs at Rhode Island Hospital, Miriam Hospital and Bradley Hospital.

The Lifespan system also includes Hasbro Children’s Hospital, Newport Hospital and Gateway Healthcare, a provider of community behavioral health care. All Lifespan-affiliated partners are charitable organizations that depend on support from the community to provide programs and services, and together they employ 13,635 people.

Lifespan hospitals fielded 241,767 emergency room visits last year and 398,955 outpatient visits.

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