For-profit hospital operators hoped the need for temporary nursing staff and heightened labor costs would ease alongside cases of the omicron variant, as they did during previous waves. That wasn’t the case in the first quarter, Healthcare Dive reports.
Nashville-based HCA, one of the largest chains with 182 hospitals, cut its full-year financial guidance due to higher than expected labor costs, as salaries and benefits expenses rose 10% year over year in the first quarter.
Community Health Systems also lowered its financial expectations, as its spending on contract labor more than doubled year over year, rising from $70 million to $190 million. Read more.
