The meeting may have been virtual, but reality set in when the West Tennessee Healthcare Board of Trustees held their monthly meeting, Tuesday.

“What we are experiencing is very consistant with the rest of the country,” said Jeff Blankenship, WTH’s chief financial officer, “Leading up to COVID (19) and all the activity of recent months, we have been about seven percent under budget; ER volumes were 46 percent under budget for April; ambulatory or clinic visits were down about 35 percent, (and) surgical cases were down 63 percent.

“Of course, being hit hard with all the cancellation of elective procedures during the month of April – this is just a snapshot of those variances for the month – putting in context where we were last month.”

Blankenship added operating revenue was 40 percent under budget for the month.

“Year-to-date, our operating income is a loss of $26 million, about 21 (million) of that happened in the month of April,” Blankenship said, “For the 10 months, ending at the end of April … $26 million of loss compared to a budget of $20 million – a negative 3.5 percent operating margin.”

KIMBERLY BUTLER NAMED WTH’S EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH CLICK HERE

(PHOTO: Jeff Blankenship, WTH chief financial officer)

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