Presbyterian financial losses serious but contained after Ebola cases

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Jake Dean

Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas lost $8.1 million in net revenue in the first 20 days of October due in large part to Ebola concerns.

Bill Hethcock

Staff Writer- Dallas Business Journal

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Revenue at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas fell 25 percent and emergency room visits dropped by more than half during the period in which the facility has drawn fire for flaws in the diagnosis and treatment of Ebola patients.

So far, however, the financial fallout doesn't appear to be contagious to the broader Texas Health Resources system.

Presbyterian, the flagship hospital of Arlington-based THR, reported a net revenue drop of $8.1 million over the first 20 days of October, according to a disclosure connected to THR system revenue bonds. Presbyterian hospital accounted for about $600 million of the $3.8 billion in revenue that THR, a not-for-profit system, earned in 2013.

In the first 20 days of October, Presbyterian's emergency room visits declined by 2,336, or 53.3 percent, and its operating room surgeries fell by 165 cases, or 25 percent, according to the disclosure.

Operating revenue for the overall system, at just over $3 billion, is up 5.6 percent for the first nine months of the year compared to 2013, according to the most recent information available.

Crisis management expert David Margulies, president Margulies Communications Group in Dallas, doesn't think Presbyterian's financial and image problems will spread to the rest of the system, he told me in an interview.

"I think it will stick with that hospital," Margulies said. "I don't think it will hurt the other hospitals."

THR's disclosure attributed much of the negative impact to Presbyterian's emergency department diverting ambulances to other hospitals from Oct. 12 through Monday. Physicians also sent patients to other hospitals.

Bill covers health care, law, education and general assignments. Subscribe to our email newsletters.