Salem Township Hospital President Alex Nazarian says the annual $37.7-million budget passed by the hospital board on Tuesday has a projected net profit of $1.1-million dollars.
He says that is down significantly from the profit margins the hospital has seen this year.
“Because of the Covid-19 we have seen some reduction in non-Covid volumes. So we are budgeting for 15% reduction in overall volumes that is both outpatient, imaging, etc…, the labs, the in patient as well and obviously we are budgeting fewer Covid patients and tests associated with that.”
Nazarian says at the same time they are seeing costs rise significantly.
“We are budgeting to have higher expenses and that is driven by a number of factors. We have adjusted our salaries and minimum wage which had a tremendous impact on our community as well in improving our community incomes. And then we are predicting that the inflation will continue. We have been seeing our supply prices to go up and we think they will continue to go up.”
Nazarian says the budget allows the hospital to staff appropriately to make sure they are on strong footing for patient care. He notes the hospital is now offering a $10,000 sign on bonus spread over the first two years of employment for registered nurses and five-thousand dollars for LPN’s.
Nazarian says the budget also includes money to include capital expenditures for new equipment. He adds they are proud that they are able to keep pace with technology with larger hospitals.
Nazarian reported to the board COVID-19 cases have fallen dramatically, with only three positive patients seen in the hospital so far in March. He says there has also been a rapid drop in number of COVID-19 tests being conducted. Nazarian adds the hospital continues to have a large supply of COVID-19 kits they are distributing to large industries and schools for home testing.
February was another good month for the hospital with volumes above budget and a net profit of $747,000.
