Today, the Rhode Island Department of Health (HEALTH) released Hospital Capital Investment in Rhode Island (2008). This report is one measure of the financial health of hospitals in the state. This report analyzes each hospital’s available capital (physical property and assets) and capital improvements. In turn, each hospital’s capital is evaluated based on how well they could support their individual improvement projects and what their financing costs were. In addition, a snapshot summary of each hospital’s capital is included. Compared to other hospitals in the Northeast, hospitals in RI used less debt to finance their capital assets (47% versus 61%), and had lower capital-related fixed expenses (4.4% versus 5.7%). However, hospitals in RI may have to invest in new capital sooner than their regional peers because, on average, their physical plants are older (13.1 years versus 10.8 years). Hospitals in RI have less capacity to finance new capital (2.1 versus 2.7 debt service coverage values), and, on average, have generated fewer revenue dollars for each invested dollar ($2.50 versus $2.62). Overall, these measures suggest that the independent hospitals (Landmark, Memorial, Roger Williams, South County, St. Joseph, and Westerly) will have a more difficult time making capital investments than Care New England (Butler, Kent, and Women & Infants), or Lifespan (Bradley, Miriam, Newport, and RI Hospital) hospitals.
To view the complete report, visit http://www.health.ri.gov/publications/annualreports/hospitalcapitalinvestment2008.pdf