How are California hospitals doing financially?

218 of 364 California hospitals (60%) reported a loss on patient care in their latest full-year Medicare cost report, compared with 55% nationwide. The median operating margin was -3.1%, lower than the U.S. median of -1.6%. The operating margin leaves out donations, investment income and grants, so some of these hospitals still end the year in the black.

California hospitals reported $2.2 billion in charity care (the cost of free or discounted care for patients who qualify) in their latest full-year reports. The largest amounts came from UCSF Medical Center ($103.7 million), Santa Clara Valley Medical Center ($90.3 million), San Francisco General Hospital ($76.9 million), Cedars-Sinai Medical Center ($67.8 million), Los Angeles General Medical Center ($49.1 million).

California ranks 28 of 50 states by the median operating margin of its hospitals (1 = highest). A larger share of its hospitals lost money on patient care than the U.S. as a whole (60% vs 55%).

Stanford Hospital in Palo Alto reported the most net patient revenue: $8.3 billion in its latest full-year cost report, with 717 beds and an operating margin of 4.5%.

It is how much a hospital keeps from patient care after paying its operating costs, as a share of its patient revenue. A margin of 5% means the hospital kept 5 cents of every dollar it earned from patients; a negative margin means patient care cost more than it brought in. It excludes donations, investment income and grants.