Erlanger reports $2.5 million earnings in first quarter

Hospital to build cancer center, medical offices

Erlanger Health System reported first quarter net income from earnings of $2.5 million, compared to a budgeted net income of only $688,000.

The hospital system also announced it will lease a new building adjacent to Erlanger East as a cancer center and medical office building.

Erlanger Chief Financial Officer Britt Tabor announced the earnings at the hospital board of trustees’ budget and finance committee meeting Monday night.

Tabor said hospital revenues were down slightly during the quarter, but expenses were even lower.

“We really did a good job controlling expenses,” he said, noting salaries had declined because managers had done a good job cutting back on staff in areas where patient volumes declined.

Overall, the hospital had 4.66 full-time employees per patient bed, “significantly under budget,” Tabor said. Salary cost per hour was $32.93 for the quarter, compared to a budgeted $33.26.

Erlanger CEO Kevin Spiegel noted that the first quarter earnings were better than the previous year, “and last year was our best year ever in terms of growth.”

Erlanger initially will lease about 48,500 square feet out of 80,000 square feet in a new office building to be built near the East campus on Gunbarrel Road.

The facility will include a linear accelerator used for radiation therapy on the first floor. The second floor will focus on breast cancer, while the third floor will be dedicated to plastic surgery, dermatology, and a gastrointestinal and pulmonary suite.

The hospital will spend about $778,000 a year for the space, according to Ross Edwards, Erlanger’s director of medical office buildings. Erlanger will have a 15-year lease on the office space, with the possibility of expanding at a later date to the fourth floor.

The facility will take about 15 months to build, Edwards said.