UVM Health Network reports $90M FY’22 loss

BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) - UVM Health Network officials say the organization lost tens of millions of dollars in fiscal year 2022, and on Thursday they released a plan to get back on track.

They projected a $66.5 million profit margin this fiscal year, but instead they posted a $90 million loss. Leaders say without the help of $55 million in one-time COVID relief money, the loss could have been much worse.

Network leaders attribute those losses to the rising cost of labor and care. They say in the last year, traveling nurses and staff cost the network roughly $140 million. They also had to increase salaries to recruit and retain staff.

The network’s CFO, Rick Vincent, says these losses made it difficult for them to make investments in things like new equipment. “As a nonprofit, we don’t have shareholders, so everything that we earn in terms of margin gets put right back into the organizations to take care of our community. Every time we don’t have a margin, that obviously impacts our ability to make those investments,” he said.

“We have no intention to cut or reduce services based on the financial performance of our last fiscal year, and the plans that we have put in place will help us sustain that as we move into this new fiscal year,” said Al Gobeille, the network’s executive VP of operations.

That plan is called “The Path Forward” and includes reducing their office space footprint throughout the state by offering hybrid or remote work. They’ve also introduced a way to combat the surgery backlog by expanding access across the network. They say more capacity is set to open up at UVM Medical Center by the end of November.

Gobeille also says the network is going to rely on the rate increase passed by the Green Mountain Care Board in August to offset labor costs.

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