Sacramento, Calif.-based Sutter Health reported a $1.1 billion loss in the first quarter of 2020, driven mainly by unrealized losses on investments, according to financial documents released May 27. This compares to a $394 million net income in the first quarter of last year.
Sutter reported a $236 million loss from operations in the three months ended March 31. This compares to $38 million income from operations in the same period last year.
In addition, Sutter reported investment losses of $21 million and unrealized losses on investments of $818 million in the first quarter.
Sutter saw its operating revenue reach $3.2 billion in the first quarter, down from $3.3 billion in the same period in 2019. Its operating expenses rose to $3.4 billion in the first quarter of this year, compared to $3.3 billion in the same period one year prior.
Sutter said it began losing operating revenue as patient volume dipped in mid-March after the shelter-in-place orders and suspension of nonemergency healthcare services in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sutter said that adjusting the system to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic was costly, and continues to be costly. To help offset those costs, Sutter has received more than $200 million in provider relief funds from HHS. It also received $1 billion in accelerated and advance payments from CMS.