Negative US Hospital Profitability, Labour Issues Persist

According to Kaufman Hall’s most recent study, which is based on information from more than 900 institutions, U.S. hospitals and health systems continued to experience challenging financial and operational issues in May. The research states that profits are cumulatively negative almost halfway through 2022. While some indicators have returned to normal, hospitals are still performing below their pre-pandemic levels, and the outlook for the remainder of the year remains questionable.

The authors noted that hospitals continue to experience rising labour costs and declining labour hours as an indication of inflation and evidence that long-standing labour constraints are likely made worse by increased turnover.