Allegheny Health Network hospitals lost $160 million in revenue from mid-March through April, when the coronavirus lockdown halted elective procedures at health care facilities statewide, financial forms filed Friday show.

Volumes plunged by about 50% as slews of nonurgent surgeries were canceled and hospitals prepared for a possible surge in covid-19 patients, AHN Chief Financial Officer James Rohrbaugh said.

To offset losses and free up cash, the nonprofit system received $300 million in federal aid: $232 million in advance payments of Medicare funding that must be repaid, and $68 million in grant money through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act.

It also received approval to defer payroll taxes, saving about $6.4 million a month.

Rohrbaugh expects losses from April to further impact revenue during the second quarter — but he said he remains optimistic that the system will be able to rebound.

“The really positive news at this point is that we are seeing a steady day-over-day pickup of volumes,” Rohrbaugh said.

AHN reported an overall operating loss of $59.5 million and net loss of $98.5 million for the first three months of 2020 — compared to a net gain of $19 million over the same period last year.

“We have not taken out any additional loans, (but) we have applied for some lines of credit to have available in case we need them,” Rohrbaugh said. “We don’t know what the future holds in terms of another surge or other disruption.”

The network, which operates 12 hospitals in the region, announced last week that AHN and two affiliates are laying off about 380 employees.

Officials said none of those jobs involved health care workers at hospitals and the cuts reflect a broader strategy to focus more on telemedicine. Virtual health appointments have spiked from just 24 a day to more than 4,000.

“We did a really good job during the pandemic of really growing our telehealth program,” Rohrbaugh said. “We kept in contact with patients so if they had a medical issue they were still able to access care.”

The system continues to expand at Grove City Medical Center; opening three new neighborhood hospitals in Hempfield, Brentwood and McCandless, along with a community cancer center in Hempfield and a Neuroscience Institute at St. Vincent Hospital.

The losses and drop in volume at AHN are in line with what health care systems in the region have reported in recent days.

UPMC reported a $41 million total operating loss during the first three months of the year — compared to a $44 million operating gain by the same time last year. Its hospitals lost $150 million in the last two weeks of March.

Excela Health officials last week reported a nearly $3 million profit for the year has turned into nearly $36 million in losses because of the pandemic, which limited its three Westmoreland County hospitals to providing only emergency care and treatment for covid-19 patients for about two months. Operating losses were more than $9 million, with an additional $28.3 million lost through investments.

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)