In early December, executives at Bay Area Hospital in Coos Bay, Oregon received the official notification from outside auditors that every health care leader dreads: The hospital was in such poor financial shape that there was “substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern,” the auditors wrote.
The 172-bed hospital — the largest on the Oregon Coast — was, and remains, in a deep financial swamp, likely the worst of any hospital in the state, notes the Lund Report.
Battling soaring COVID-19-related costs as well as foul-ups in the hospital’s patient and insurance billing computer system, the hospital racked up a staggering $61 million loss in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2022. That put the cash-strapped hospital in violation of the terms of its $47 million loan from Bank of the West. And that meant the bank could demand immediate repayment.
“If Bank of the West did call the note due and payable, which is in their legal right, the hospital probably would not survive that call,” said Chief Financial Officer Mary Lou Tate in a recent interview with The Lund Report. Read more.
