ROCKPORT, Maine — Pen Bay Healthcare, which provides services to the Knox County area, expects to operate in the black during the coming budget year.
The 2014-2015 budget for Pen Bay Healthcare was adopted in September by the Pen Bay board of trustees and the parent corporation board of MaineHealth. It calls for 6 percent rate increases at Pen Bay Medical Center.
The budget projects total expenses of nearly $146 million for the budget year that begins Oct. 1 and runs through Sept. 30, 2015. Operating revenues for the year are projected at $147 million.
The health care system expects to end with an operating surplus of $1.5 million with additional nonoperating income of $743,000.
Pen Bay Healthcare consists of the hospital in Rockport, Quarry Hill retirement village in Camden, Kno-Wal-Lin home health care and hospice, as well as most of the physician practices in the region.
The budget includes wage increases of 2 percent effective Oct. 1. The health care system has 1,396 employees as well as 236 active per diem workers.
The rate increases at the hospital will take effect April 1. The current rates at PBMC include $834 per day for use of the nursery; $1,402 per day to stay in pediatric, obstetric and regular hospital rooms; $1,668 daily in the psychiatric and addiction unit; and $3,808 per day for the special care unit.
When asked if the same number of staff would be working in the upcoming year, the hospital issued a statement saying, “We currently fill positions on an ‘as needed’ basis and we are actively engaged in recruitment for new physicians and colleagues.”
Pen Bay Medical Center accounts for the largest share of the system budget, with expenses budgeted at $89 million for 2014-2015. The hospital is projected to end the year with a $4 million surplus.
Penobscot Bay Physicians and Associates have budgeted expenses of $29 million. This subsidiary is projected to lose $1.3 million over the next 12 months.
Quarry Hill’s expenses are projected at $10.4 million, with the retirement village expected to end the year with a slight surplus.
Kno-Wal-Lin’s expenses are budgeted at $9.2 million. It is expected to experience a slight loss over the fiscal year.
Operating costs at the Knox Center nursing and rehabilitation complex in Rockland are budgeted at $7.4 million, with the facility also projected to record a slight loss.