Staff at the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics has seen a steady increase in patient and operating income since 2021.

In an audit to the state Board of Regents, UIHC reported its operating income  increased by $319.4 million since 2021, citing a 22 percent increase in patient service revenue as the primary reason. 

The report stated the increase in patient service revenue is because of more outpatient clinic visits with a greater mix of cases.

According to the audit, operating costs saw an increase of 7 percent or $153 million from 2021. Increasing prices of medical supplies, production costs, and increasing patient volumes were attributed to the increase.

In addition, the audit revealed that for fiscal year 2022, UIHC had a total operating revenue of $2.6 billion, with expenses costing $2.2 billion, creating an operating income of $410 million.

The audit defined UIHC as encompassing the University of Iowa Hospital, Psychiatric Hospital, Stead Family Children’s Hospital, and the Center for Disabilities and Development, not including physician or dentist services as well as research activities. 

In a UIHC presentation to the regents on Feb. 22, the hospital stated that the average number of staffed beds at the hospital increased from 2021, rising from 621 to 627. However, while the number of staffed beds increased, the hospital reported that the occupancy rate dropped from 97.2 percent in 2021 to 95.7 percent in 2022. 

Kim Hunter, interim associate vice president of UI Health Care and chief executive officer of UIHC, said during the meeting that the hospital is working to combat the continued rise of patients.

“We do have some constraints which we often talk about, but the fact of the matter is we have a high occupancy rate throughout the whole hospital and really, this just shows that,” Hunter said. “We’ve actually increased our number of staff beds to try to keep up with that and try as we might, we still have a lot of demand and a lot of people that need care from us.” 

The report also detailed that the number of patients at UI Quick Care and UI Urgent Care have both increased. Quick Care visits rose from around 60,000 in 2021 to around 72,000 in 2022. Urgent Care reported an increase of around 35,000 in 2021 to 51,000 in 2022. 

Hunter said she is glad that patients are also utilizing both UI Quick Care and UI Urgent Care as opposed to coming initially to the UIHC Emergency Departments. 

“We’re really proud that we’ve got different facilities that can meet the needs of the patient when they need them,” she said.