WESTMINSTER — Hospital officials said last night that admissions were up 17 percent over last year, when Carroll County General led the state in percentage increase, and reported financial losses were less than forecast for the first quarter of fiscal 1992.
The announcements came at last night's quarterly meeting of the board of the hospital's parent company, Carroll County Health Services Corp.
Kevin Kelbly, vice president for finance and the hospital's chieffinancial officer, said Carroll County Health Services Corp. and itssubsidiaries -- CCGH, Carroll County Med-Services Inc. and the Carroll County Hospital Foundation -- generated some $13.2 million in operating and non-operating revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 1992,which ended Oct. 31.
Expenses for the period were approximately $13.3 million, resulting in a combined net loss of about $82,000.
During the period, CCGH generated some $12.9 million in operating and non-operating revenue.
Hospital expenses were approximately $13.1 million, resulting in a $165,000 net loss.
Kelbly said the hospital's quarterly income was $1.1 million more than projected.
"We hadforecast a $488,000 loss for the hospital during this quarter," he said. "In the summer and fall, patient demand for our services is down.
"We still feel that we are ahead of our budget," he said.
Kelbly said that the hospital anticipates a gain of $400,000 on total patient revenue of $40 million for fiscal 1992.
For the quarter, the148-bed hospital admitted nearly 2,500 patients. Some of the 17 percent increase was attributed to the opening of the hospital's psychiatric unit in July.
The Maryland Hospital Association reported last summer that CCGH increased its admissions by 7.7 percent and its occupancy rate by 4.3 percent for the 12 months ending last March 31. Both rates of change topped the list for the 51 hospitals in the report.
Patient days, the amount of time patients were hospitalized, and total occupancy were up 23 percent over the same period last year.
The psychiatric unit totaled 1,059 patient days. Telemetry, an intensive-care unit, accounted for 2,997 patient days, with admissions up 45.2 percent, the largest gain.
A total of 221,000 operating-room minutes were tallied,surpassing projections by 16 percent. The increase was attributed in part to the Aug. 26 opening of the Ambulatory Surgery Center.
"The operating room minutes were very strong and (with) the increase in patient days over the last quarter were key factors in the hospital's better-than-expected performance," Kelbly said.
William Gavin, chairman of the board for Carroll County Health Services Corp. reported on the status of the hospital's Master Facilities plan, which includes a proposed $5.1 million expansion.
"We madeour presentation to the county commissioners last week regarding ourplans to expand, and they indicated their support," he said.
The two-year expansion would include modernizing the obstetrics and gynecological wing, as well as expansion of the emergency and operating rooms.
"We are now waiting to receive our certificate of need and approval for a rate increase from the Health Services Cost Review Commission, before we can get started," Gavin said.