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New Data Highlights Financial Difficulties in 2022 for Colorado Hospitals

GREENWOOD VILLAGE, COLO. – Jan. 11, 2023 –

Today, Colorado Hospital Association (CHA) released the 2022 Colorado Hospital Industry Update, a statewide perspective of the financial condition of hospital and health systems, and the data show that the financial and operational impacts for hospitals since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic have been staggering. As hospitals, policymakers, and other health care leaders assess the current landscape, key findings of the report include:

  • Hospitals are facing a serious financial toll, with no further relief in sight. Hospitals have incurred unprecedented losses relative to pre-pandemic levels, approximately $1.8 billion through August 2022. 
  • A majority of Colorado hospitals operate with unsustainable financial situations. For the many hospitals with negative operating margins, reimbursements do not cover the cost of patient care.
  • Expenses are up and outpacing revenue. Total expenses in 2022 for Colorado hospitals are 21 percent higher than pre-pandemic levels, outpacing increases in reimbursements. Rising expenses for staffing – up more than 26 percent – and medical supplies have contributed to a $2 billion increase in total expenses.
  • Remaining operating margins have been cut in half. While stimulus support helped keep many hospitals afloat in 2020, 2022 operating margins are 49 percent below 2019 levels. 
  • Hospitals are seeing fewer patients, and these patients are sicker. While hospital discharges and inpatient surgeries have decreased since 2019, patient days and length of stay are on the rise, indicating that patients have more severe health needs than prior to the pandemic. 

“Almost three years into the pandemic, hospitals continue to meet their missions and provide life-saving, accessible care for patients and communities,” said Jeff Tieman, CHA president and CEO. “At the same time, they are managing staff constraints, financial pressures, and growing regulatory burden. In addition to their financial distress, hospitals continue to implement 17 major state and federal health care reforms adopted over the last few years. Colorado’s patients and the people who care for them deserve our careful attention to this set of issues and awareness by policymakers of the pressures hospitals face every day.”


About Colorado Hospital Association

Colorado Hospital Association (CHA) is the leading voice of Colorado’s hospital and health system community. Representing more than 100 member hospitals and health systems throughout the state, CHA serves as a trusted, credible and reliable resource on health issues, hospital data and trends for its members, media, policymakers and the general public. Through CHA, Colorado’s hospitals and health systems work together in their shared commitment to improve health and health care in Colorado. Learn more at www.cha.com.

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