Pittsburgh-based health care giant UPMC reported profits of about $238 million during 2022, a 71% drop compared to the previous year.
Edward Karlovich, executive vice president and chief financial officer of UPMC, called it a “difficult year in health care,” but said UPMC made long-term investments in 2022 to improve its how it treats patients that included a shift to provide more outpatient services.
“During this difficult year in health care, our commitment to UPMC’s core mission did not wane. We substantially invested for the long-term, improving access to our clinical care and community services throughout all our regions with emphasis on meeting strong patient preference for care to be provided more conveniently in ambulatory settings closer to home,” Karlovich said in a statement.
UPMC reported earnings of $238 million in 2022, compared to $843 million in 2021.
In its financial report, UPMC said that like other hospital systems, it has been struggling with employment costs.
“The continued effect of covid-19 on patient volumes, along with conditions in the labor and supply markets, have resulted in cost growth in employment, staffing and other operating expenses in excess of revenue growth,” the report states.
Covid-19 relief funding also fell, while UPMC’s loss from investing and financing activities for year was $1.1 billion, in line with overall market trends.
The health system overall pulled in about $25.5 billion in revenue for 2022, an uptick compared to $24.3 billion in 2021
Meanwhile, UPMC saw growth in its health plan enrollment with membership climbing to nearly 4.5 million — a 9% jump year over year. The health system attributed the jump to growth in Medicare, behavioral health and the “statewide expansion of the Medicaid physical health managed care organization.”
To deal with staffing shortages, UPMC said it has invested about $300 million in workforce initiatives such as bonus and loan repayment programs.
By the end of 2022, more than 1,800 internal and external nurses had applied for the new UPMC Travel Staffing team; more than 1,400 graduate nurses were hired; and 150 new students have officially been accepted into the UPMC Schools of Nursing via the new Tuition Loan Forgiveness Program, according to the report.
UPMC is the largest non-government employer in Pennsylvania with 95,000 workers.
Stephanie Ritenbaugh is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Stephanie at sritenbaugh@triblive.com.