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West Side Landfill Authority no longer recognized

Wilkes-Barre mayor-elect Tony George announces transition team

Area rehabilitation centers and other &#8220;non-general acute care&#8221; facilities generally have done as well as or better than the state average in revenue, despite two prominent facilities &#8212; Allied Services and John Heinz Rehabilitation &#8212; showing declines in patient revenue, a state report shows.Both Allied and John Heinz saw net patient revenue drop by $1 million from 2013 to 2014, the year of the latest report from the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4). For Allied, the drop came after a $1 million increase from 2012 to 2013, for a three-year decline of a scant 0.67 percent. For Heinz, it was the fourth consecutive year with a $1 million decline, from $38 million in 2011, for a three-year drop of 3.55 percent.Statewide, average net profit for rehabilitation hospitals rose since 2011 by 0.85 percent to $35 million. The good news for the two regional facilities: They are at or near the state net patient revenue average, with Allied posting $35 million in 2014 and John Heinz $34 million.As has been the case in the past, the local facilities get a substantially higher percentage of revenue from Medicare patients, reflecting the region&#8217;s older population. The state average is 57.4 percent, while it&#8217;s 81.5 percent for Allied and 73.6 percent for John Heinz.Only one local psychiatric hospital was listed in the new report, First Hospital Wyoming Valley in Kingston. It posted net patient revenue of $26 million compared to the state average of $25 million, but had significantly higher revenue growth since 2011, 6.6 percent compared to 2.7 percent statewide. As with the rehabilitation facilities, First Hospital had a higher-than-average share of money coming from Medicare, 23.75 percent compared to 17.64 percent statewide.Also as has been evident in recent PHC4 reports, some information tends to be dated, thanks to rapid changes in the health care landscape. The report lists Special Care in Nanticoke as the area&#8217;s long-term acute care hospital, a facility that was sold and then closed. Residents saw the landmark building sold at an auction Nov. 9, free and clear.The numbers suggest finances as a reason Special Care is no more. It posted $7 million in net patient revenue compared to a statewide average of $15 million, down 19 percent from 2011.<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Mark Guydishmguydish@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish</shirttailMeta></div>

New report: Finances of area rehab, psychiatric hospitals fit state averages