HMA profit drops

NAPLES — Hospital operator Health Management Associates reported net income fell 24% to $37 million compared with the same quarter one year ago while revenues rose 21% to $1.7 billion.

HMA reported that it experienced a 4% drop in admissions at hospitals it has operated longer than a year. “We believe ongoing sluggish economic conditions with high unemployment and insured patient preference for outpatient services rather than inpatient stays are affecting our inpatient volume,” the hospital company says in a statement.

For the year ending in December, HMA warned that it expects admissions to hospitals it has operated for one year or longer will decline between 1% and 3%.

HMA says it took a charge of $22.3 million for an adjustment to interest-rate swaps. Excluding the impact of that charge, the hospital company would have reported an increase of 5% in earnings per share from continuing operations in the second quarter compared with the same quarter in 2011.

HMA operates 70 hospitals in non-urban areas with about 10,500 beds across the U.S. Its stock is publicly traded (symbol: HMA; recent price, $7.29).