Key performance indicators in the financial report accepted March 11 by the El Camino Hospital District board of directors show the hospital on solid ground, but with a need for continued vigilance on the expense side of the balance sheet.
The report covers seven periods of the district's fiscal year, from June 29, 1997, through Jan. 10 this year.
In presenting the financial report, Chief Financial Officer Marla Gularte said the district "had no idea when it created this budget how things would go" following return of the Mountain View hospital to district management. The budget was "very conservative," she said.
The net operating margin for the hospital district and its affiliates was 11 percent, compared to the -7.5 percent listed in the budget. This compares favorably to the industry average of 1.8 percent.
The district's net margin, which includes investment income and other non-operating revenues, is a favorable 15.5 percent compared to an industry average of 3.3 percent.
Gularte said the district has adequate cash on hand to operate for 313 days. The industry average is 90 days cash on hand.
Net revenue per adjusted discharge of $6,230 compares favorably with the budget amount of $5,781 and is slightly lower than the industry average of $6,282. Expense per adjusted discharge was $5,880, better than the $6,681 budgeted but more than the $5,000 industry average.
Chief Operating Officer Owen Aurelio said improvement in key indicators such as paid staff per occupied bed, and salaries and benefits as a percent of total operating expenses was "a major target for operations."
Actual full-time employees per occupied bed stood at 5.7, compared with the industry average of 5.2. Salaries and benefits represented 55.9 percent of total operating expenses for the district, compared with an industry average of 43 percent.
Board treasurer Mark O'Connor said salary figures should be compared to the Bay Area, where salaries are higher overall, rather than to a national industry average. Gularte said industry average figures are calculated from 1995-96 figures for all hospitals in the Pacific Region of the United States.
El Camino's "large outpatient business, rents and other operating programs are advantages other institutions may not enjoy," said Gularte in response to a request by board member Dr. Edward Bough to explain the "spectacular" net margin.
Total admissions and average daily patient census are up 2 and 8 percent, respectively, at El Camino Hospital.
A recent change in the state law that allows a minimum 48-hour stay for normal deliveries and 96-hour stay for cesarean sections plays a large role in the 8 percent increase in patient days.
Overall, the hospital district and its affiliates showed net income of $14.9 million for the fiscal period ending Jan. 10.