Vidant Health Completes Year With Higher Quality Patient Care And Sound Financial Performance, Prepares For 2017 | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Press Release:

    GREENVILLE, NC     In 2016, Vidant Health strengthened their mission to improve the health and well-being of eastern North Carolina and advanced its vision to become the national model for rural health and wellness by creating a premier, trusted health care delivery and education system through strong results in quality, experience and financial stewardship.

    Vidant Health leaders and team members worked together to identify the values that would make mission and vision a reality. Integrity, compassion, education, accountability, safety and teamwork are the values that will drive excellence at Vidant Health.

    Vidant Health ended fiscal year 2016 with strong performances in quality, experience and financial metrics reported at the Vidant Health Board of Directors quarterly meeting on Nov. 22, 2016.

    Providing safe, quality patient care was celebrated as system quality numbers met or exceeded targets in a majority of metrics, including a nine percent decrease in harmful events. The system experienced a 14 percent reduction in readmissions. While continuing to improve in providing an exceptional patient experience and delivering optimal care, 83 percent of patients surveyed at Vidant Health rated their experience a "9" or "10" on a ten-point scale.

    Across the system, Vidant Health served eastern North Carolina with more than 63,000 inpatients and 609,000 emergency and outpatients, performed more than 35,800 surgeries and delivered more than 5,900 infants across eastern North Carolina.

    The financial outlook was strong. For the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2016, Vidant Health had operating income of $75.7 million and an operating margin of 4.6 percent. These strong operations indicators were augmented by strong investment market performance related to the Vidant Health investment portfolio for the fiscal year. Investment gains, including both realized and unrealized gains and losses, were approximately $53.3 million, which was consistent with overall market returns for this time period. These investment gains along with the other non-operating expenses such as interest expense and contribution expense led to overall net income of $80.7 million for the year compared to the prior year overall net loss of $0.9 million.

    "In 2016, Vidant Health improved the quality of care and experience provided to our patients. We maintained our strong operating performance, and will continue to focus on our mission as changes in reimbursement challenge the health care landscape, especially in rural areas," said CEO Dr. Michael Waldrum. "As we continue to transition to a value-based health care environment, we are committed to improving clinical integration while reducing the cost of care to our patients."

    The financial results improved from fiscal year 2015 of $0.9 million loss in net income to FY 2016 net income of $80.7 million. The improvement is primarily a result of much better investment market dynamics in FY 2016 versus FY 2015 as noted above.

    Fiscal Year 2016 Quality/Experience Highlights:

• Achieved Leapfrog Patient Safety Grade of A at 4 hospitals - Vidant Beaufort, Vidant Duplin, Vidant Edgecombe, and Vidant Medical Center.
• Achieved top quartile performance in Vizient ranking for VMC, top decile for Vidant Beaufort (10) and Vidant Duplin (6).
• Reduced harmful events by nine percent compared to 2015.
• Achieved 4 star or better rating (out of 5 stars) in CMS patient experience star rating at all four home health offices.

    Fiscal Year 2016 Financial Highlights:

• Vidant Health increased total cash position in 2016 to 197.9 days. Unrestricted days in cash is an important metric for Vidant Health's bond rating. The better the bond rating, the easier it is to access capital at lower interest rates.
• For fiscal year 2016, Vidant Health had an operating income of $75.7 million.
• Vidant Community Hospitals had a strong fiscal year due to strong inpatient and outpatient volume, as well as aggressive cost management and efficient use of inpatient facilities.
• Vidant Medical Group further increased its presence in eastern North Carolina, adding four new physician practices in a variety of specialties, and improving access to care in the communities it serves.

    As a not-for-profit corporation, Vidant Health reinvests all of its income back into capital projects, equipment, facilities and access to services for the patients and communities we serve.

    In addition to Vidant Medical Center, Vidant Health includes Vidant Beaufort Hospital in Washington, Vidant Bertie Hospital in Windsor, Vidant Chowan Hospital in Edenton, Vidant Duplin Hospital in Kenansville, Vidant Edgecombe Hospital in Tarboro, Vidant Roanoke-Chowan Hospital in Ahoskie, and the Outer Banks Hospital in Nags Head, where it is a 60 percent owner. In addition to the hospitals, Vidant Health also operates more than 85 physician practices, outpatient, home health and hospice services and critical care transport services. In 2015, Vidant Health provided more than $188 million in unreimbursed care. More than 70 percent of patients treated at Vidant Health hospitals and clinics are paid for by government programs with rates set below the cost of care.ous.

• Contact: Beth Anne Atkins
•     beth.atkins@vidanthealth.com