Hospitals have focused on lowering expenses during the third quarter this year as systems look to rein in spiking contract labor costs due to staff shortages caused by persistent healthcare burnout.
Universal Health Services said in late October it would be focused on lowering premium staff pay and filling workforce vacancies as it faced external inflationary expenses combined with heightened labor costs.
Likewise, Franklin, Tennessee-based for-profit operator Community Health Systems posted a $42 million net loss despite lowering its temporary contract labor costs, as falling admissions and lower-acuity patients battered the system’s financials.
