by Robert King | Jun 1, 2021
Cleveland Clinic earned $61 million in profits for the first quarter of the year, a major boost from the $39 million loss it posted for the same quarter in 2020.
The hospital system reported $2.8 billion in total unrestricted revenue for the quarter and $61 million in operating income thanks to higher-than-expected patient service revenue. However, the system is still expecting to face major cost pressures throughout the year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 
“In many cases, patient volumes will be suppressed,” the system’s earnings report, released Friday, said. “More services may be delivered through lower-cost settings, such as virtual or in-home care.”
Cleveland Clinic posted $2.5 billion in net patient service revenue, a major improvement over the $2.3 billion it posted for the first quarter of 2020 when the pandemic started.
But the system still is facing higher expenses for supplies and salaries for workers, which have shot up for hospitals across the country throughout the pandemic. Cleveland Clinic spent $1.5 billion on salaries and benefits for the first quarter compared with $1.48 billion for the same period last year. Costs for supplies also increased to $297 million, slightly above the $269 million it paid in the first quarter of 2020.
