Seven of the top 10 most profitable hospitals in the United States are nonprofit facilities that each netted more than $150 million from caring for patients in 2013, according to a study published Monday.
Topping the list is Gunderson Lutheran Medical Center in La Crosse, Wis., which earned $302.5 million in profit from patient-care services that year, according to researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Washington and Lee University.
Other nonprofits in the top 10 include the Stanford Hospital in Palo Alto, Calif., which took in nearly $225 million, and the University of Pennsylvania’s hospital in Philadelphia, which earned $184.5 million.
“Most hospitals lose money, but there are a few very profitable ones and we need to pay attention to why they are making so much” and how it affects consumers, said lead author Gerard Anderson, a Hopkins health policy professor.