Brentwood, Tenn.-based Ardent Health recorded a net income of $135.8 million in 2025, down from $210.3 million in 2024, according to its March 4 financial report.
The publicly traded, for-profit system recorded total revenue of $6.3 billion for the 12 months ended Dec. 31, up from $6 billion during the same period last year.
Ardent reported total operating expenses of $6 billion in 2025, up from $5.6 billion in 2024. Salaries and benefits totaled $2.7 billion, up from $2.5 billion. Professional fees were $1.2 billion, up from $1.1 billion. Supply costs were $1.1 billion, up from $1 billion.
Marty Bonick, Ardent’s president and CEO, said the system saw tangible progress in the fourth quarter to mitigate payer denials and professional fee pressures. In the third quarter, Ardent’s professional fee expenses grew 11% year-over-year, above the system’s high single-digit expectation. The system also saw more pronounced payer denials in the third quarter.
On the system’s third quarter call, Mr. Bonick said Ardent has undertaken a workforce optimization program and has renegotiated key contracts, including with certain payers and agency labor, that would “start to benefit earnings in the fourth quarter.”
Professional fees grew 8.1% year over year in the fourth quarter.
“I’m encouraged by payer denial and professional fee dynamics that were stable in the fourth quarter,” Mr. Bonick said in the report.
In 2026, Ardent is projecting total revenue between $6.4 billion and $6.7 billion. It is also expecting net income between $129 million and $183 million.
Ardent operates 30 acute care hospitals in six states.
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