SMC increases assets by $600K
Patients, Beulah clinic closing cited for profit
By April Baumgarten
After several tough decisions and increase in patient numbers the Sakakawea Medical Center ended the year with almost a $700,000 profit.
“You can see from 2012 to 2013 that we were able to substantially increase the amount of cash on-hand,” CEO Darrold Bertsch said. “That’s because we did a really good job of managing the business that we are providing, managing our expenses and also managing the services we provide.”
The head of finances for SMC told Hazen Memorial Hospital Association members and guests Thursday at the annual meeting at Hazen City Hall that SMC pulled in more than $10.4 million, almost $500,000 more than last year.
It also decreased its expenses to $9.8 million, down from last year’s $10 million. Operating income hit almost $608,000, pushing the total net assets to more than $691,000.
The number is a tremendous jump from last year’s $93,101. The hospital would have finished with a red bottom line if it hadn’t received more than $132,000 in operating funds and grants last year.
Bertsch attributed the low income last year to an increase in patients, more expenses and bad debt from patients that fail to pay their bills.
But this year the increase in patients has helped bolster the hospital’s income, Bertsch said.
“We were very fortunate because we never know what is going to happen,” he said. “We can’t always rely on the federal government to provide everything. We need to make sure we have the resources we need so we continue to provide supplies for our staff.”
