Mass General and Brigham see big surge in '05 profit

Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital posted double-digit profit increases in fiscal 2005, according to their parent corporation, Partners HealthCare, which filed the results yesterday after ignoring a state deadline for three weeks.

Partners said Mass General's profit surged 22 percent to $188 million in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30. Brigham and Women's achieved a bigger increase, 75 percent, to $74.8 million.

Under state law, Partners was supposed to file its hospitals' 2005 results by Nov. 15. Partners sought an extension from the Division of Health Care Finance and Policy, which in past years had routinely given one. Governor Mitt Romney's administration denied the request on Nov. 16 but said it wouldn't penalize Partners for being late.

State Senator Mark C. Montigny, a New Bedford Democrat who has called for greater accountability in healthcare, said Partners, a nonprofit, is the wealthiest healthcare provider network in the state and has ''no excuse" for not complying with state laws.

''Partners has the resources and should consider the public trust its highest responsibility," Montigny said. ''Public charities in this state have been left to operate in the dark for too long."

Partners' position evolved through the week. On Wednesday, Partners told the Globe that it would stick with its original plan to file the financial reports in mid-December despite the extension denial. Partners wanted to wait until after its financial results had been reviewed and approved by the board of trustees audit and finance committees in December, said Peter Markell, Partners' chief financial officer.

''We will release it as soon as we're done with that process," Markell said on Wednesday. Partners had sought and received extensions for the past three years, so it was caught off guard when the Division of Health Care Finance and Policy denied this year's request, Markell said.

Yesterday, citing the Globe inquiries about the late reports, Partners reversed direction and filed the reports. Partners did not want to be portrayed in the media as ''we're big, we're bad, we're trying to hide stuff," Markell said. He said Partners will seek to negotiate with the state to have more than 45 days after the end of the fiscal year to file in the future.

''We really believe this should be a 90-day deadline," he said.

Richard Powers, a spokesman for Romney's Executive Office of Health and Human Services, which oversees the health policy division, said the agency denied the request for an extension this year because of a need for greater accountability in healthcare finance.

''We're out there talking and promoting transparency in healthcare quality and cost information, and granting an extension would be sending a mixed message to people. We want these submitted in a timely fashion," Powers said.

Powers said the only immediate consequence of the late filing would be the absence of Partners data when the state updates its website next week.

The health policy division began requiring quarterly and annual financial reports from hospitals based on 2002 legislation. The intent, Powers said, was to give state policy makers a real-time measure of the financial condition of Massachusetts hospitals, nearly all of which operate as charitable institutions. At the time, many of the state's biggest hospitals were recovering from dire financial straits. The quarterly and annual results are posted for public viewing on the division's website.

The only other state government source of information about hospitals' financial performance is the Office of Attorney General public charities oversight division, which also gathers annual disclosures. But the attorney general in the past has granted extensions that allow hospitals to report results as long as 10 months after the fiscal year ends.

Two other acute-care hospitals also had not filed financial reports as of this week: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center's Needham campus, and Children's Hospital Boston. Beth Israel spokeswoman Judy Glasser said the hospital's Needham campus did not report its numbers because its chief financial officer has left and the hospital is focused on completing its annual audit. Beth Israel-Needham did not seek an extension, according to the state.

Children's Hospital Boston sought an extension but, like Partners, it was denied, Powers said. Children's Hospital declined to comment.

Markell, Partners' chief financial officer, said Mass General and Brigham performed well by controlling expenses and handling large numbers of patients with advanced medical problems, which generate large billings.

According to yesterday's filings for the other Partners hospitals, the financially troubled North Shore Medical Center experienced losses of $29.2 million, compared to a loss of $5.8 million in 2004. Newton-Wellesley Hospital more than doubled its profit, to $3.7 million, and Faulkner Hospital had a profit of $1 million, down from $1.6 million a year earlier. Other Boston teaching hospitals reported increased profits, too.

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center reported profits rising 10 percent to $44.9 million in 2005. Tufts-New England Medical Center posted a $13 million profit after a loss of $21.2 million last year. Profits at Boston Medical Center dropped by 50 percent to $11 million. Caritas St. Elizabeth's Medical Center said its profits rose to $10.5 million after essentially breaking even last year.

The profit and loss results reported to the state include both operating and nonoperating revenues such as income from investments.

Christopher Rowland can be reached at crowland@globe.com.