Is Singing River in good financial shape? See records ahead of possible sale or merger.
As Singing River Health System prepares for a possible sale or merger, the Sun Herald took a look at its finances, which are publicly available here.
The publicly owned Jackson County hospital system, based in Pascagoula, fell $95,000 shy of breaking even in its last fiscal year.
Singing River’s net position declined from $195.8 to $195.7 million in its 2021 fiscal year, which began in October 2020. The loss followed at least five consecutive years in which the hospital system saw net gains in the millions. As recently as the end of 2017, it was $119 million in the red.
Singing River has three hospitals — it’s flagship in Pascagoula and two others in Ocean Springs and Gulfport — and more than 30 medical and specialty clinics across the Coast. They employ around 4,000 people.
Singing River’s Board of Trustees announced Wednesday its decision to put the hospitals up for sale. A press release accompanying the announcement said “community hospitals” such as Singing River currently face “the strongest headwinds” in the healthcare industry, suggesting financial difficulties may have helped motivate the proposed sale.
The health system’s finances appear to compare favorably to nearby Memorial Hospital at Gulfport, which lost $61 million in its 2021 fiscal year, prompting a staff shakeup that included the demotions and layoffs of several executives.
Memorial CEO Kent Nicaud blamed the losses on inadequate federal relief to mitigate the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
While the two hospitals are of a comparable size—in 2021, Singing River and Memorial had operating budgets of $509 million and $756 million respectively—Singing River received far less in CARES Act funds than its Gulfport counterpart.
Memorial received $41 million through the CARES Act in 2020 and $1.8 million in 2021. In the same years, Singing River was granted $4.3 million and $5.8 million.
The Jackson County Board of Supervisors must approve the resolution by Singing River on Monday in order for the sale or merger process to continue.
Ochsner Health has indicated they are interested in bidding to acquire or merge with Singing River.
This story was originally published June 3, 2022 at 3:28 PM.