UPMC reports record 1st quarter revenue

May 03--UPMC had one of its most profitable quarters in seven years, its chief financial officer said Thursday.

For the three months ending March 31, UPMC's operating revenues increased nearly 23 percent, from $3.7 billion to $4.6 billion. Its net income was $97 million.

Excluding a quarter in 2015 bolstered by a one-time gain, it was the health system's most profitable quarter since 2011, CFO Rob DeMichiei said during a news briefing.

UPMC's acquisition of the Pinnacle health system in central Pennsylvania had a significant impact, DeMichiei said.

Operating income, which is reinvested in programs advancing patient care, increased nearly 28 percent, from $72 million to $92 million.

Medical insurance subscriptions increased 8 percent to 3.4 million subscribers. Admissions and observations were up 22 percent compared to a year ago.

UPMC's earnings before interest, depreciation and amortization -- a measure of its financial performance and ability to generate resources for reinvestment -- was $245 million, up 23 percent from $199 million in 2017.

UPMC spent $222 million on capital expenditures and business investments in the first quarter of 2018.

"UPMC's financial strength reflects increased demand for UPMC's innovative clinical care and allows us to reinvest in life-saving initiatives," DeMichiei said.

The hospital's living donor liver transplant program was cited as an example of such initiatives.

In 2017, and for the first time ever, UPMC said it did more liver transplants from living donors than from deceased ones.

"At UPMC, we strongly believe in the ability of living donor liver transplant to be a lifesaving procedure and offer this as a first-line option to all our patients in need of a liver transplant," DeMichiei said.

Brian C. Rittmeyer is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-226-4701, [email protected] or on Twitter @BCRittmeyer.

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