Main Line Health’s finances are improving, but the health system is still operating at a deficit, writes Harold Brubaker for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The health system reported an operating loss of $28 million over the summer, a smaller loss than the previous year.

Last year, for the same period, it reported a $41 million loss.

One factor for the improvement could be that the health system didn’t spend as much on labor compared to previous years.

Main Line Health spent $287 million on salaries and outside labor in the three months that ended September 30, just a 4% increase from the same period the year before.

The health system’s revenue is also on the rise with an increase in emergency department visits and outpatient surgeries.

At the same time, the number of days a patient spends in the hospital is on the decline.

For the past four years, Main Line Health has been operating in the red. In 2020, the operating margin was -3.4%. That declined to -1.4% in 2021 but spiked to -7.7% in 2022.

Read more about Main Line Health’s operating loss at The Philadelphia Inquirer.

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