Federal stimulus money saves Winneshiek Medical Center from having a bad financial year in 2019-2020

Revenues at Winneshiek Medical Center were down sharply in April and May, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  But a federal stimulus payment of over $5 million has saved WMC from finishing in the red in the 2020 fiscal year.

Chief Financial Officer Lynn Luloff presented the financial figures to WMC Board members on Wednesday.  They showed that Net Patient Revenues for fiscal 2020 were $63.7 million--down 5.3 percent from budget.  With Operating Expenses of $66.6 million, that left the medical center in the red for the year.

That was unfortunate, because Winneshiek Medical Center had been turning around recent financial issues and operating in the black in December, January and February.  WMC Chief Administrative Officer Lisa Radtke told board members she had a great deal of confidence in the direction the medical center was going.

Then the coronavirus epidemic hit and revenues plunged--especially because of the cancellation of most elective surgeries.  "We were on track to outperform Fiscal Year 2019 before COVID hit," said Luloff.

But Winnehsiek Medical Center showed an Operating Gain of $767,352 in June.  When the stimulus money was added to the figures, WMC ends its fiscal year with a Net Gain of just over $3 million.

While hospital officials are happy with the results from Fiscal Year 2020, they say there doesn't appear to be any further stimulus money in the works from Washington, D.C., so they promise to continue watching the medical center's financial picture.