Hospital Corp. of America, the Nashville-based hospital giant which owns Parkridge Medical, Parkridge Valley and Parkridge East hospitals in Chattanooga and East Ridge, boosted its first quarter earnings by 70 percent as growing hospital admissions reaffirmed a strong performance it initially outlined last month.
HCA said Tuesday that it earned $591 million, or $1.36 per share, in the quarter that ended March 31. That compares to a profit of $347 million, or 76 cents per share, last year, when the company booked a big charge tied to legal costs. Earnings, adjusted for nonrecurring gains, came to $1.35 per share in the most recent quarter, which HCA announced in an earnings preview last month.
That topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 12 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.22 per share.
The hospital operator posted revenue of $9.68 billion in the period, which also beat Street forecasts. Six analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $9.66 billion.
HCA runs about 165 hospitals and 115 free-standing surgery centers in 20 states and England, including 20 in Tennessee. The company reaffirmed Tuesday that equivalent admissions at locations open at least a year rose 6.8 percent. Equivalent admissions include both inpatient admissions and outpatient procedures.