Montefiore Medical Center posted gains in its latest fiscal year after government agencies sent aid to help keep it afloat. But that aid could be uncertain in the coming years amid an uncertain federal funding environment.
The Bronx hospital ended its 2024 fiscal year with a 4.3% operating margin and nearly $252 million in profits, largely because of federal and state grants that have plugged its deficits, according to a financial statement released Friday. Montefiore brought in more than $275 million in grants last year, including $175 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and $100 million from the state’s $7.5 billion Medicaid waiver, a pilot program that provides federal funds for hospitals and community organizations.
The influx of federal aid to Montefiore has helped reverse its long standing financial deficits. Such funding, however, is shaky as President Donald Trump’s administration attempts to execute large-scale spending cuts that could drastically reduce the Medicaid budget. Medicaid waivers and other one-time grants are at a greater risk of being discontinued now than they were under the previous administration, said Dr. Ge Bai, professor of accounting and health policy at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
“The days for hospitals to receive large windfall federal grants with little accountability attached are numbered,” Bai said.
Montefiore would have a gloomier financial picture if not for state and federal aid, falling in the red by 2.4% without money from FEMA and the state’s Medicaid waiver, said Colleen Blye, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Montefiore Medical Center.
The hospital brought in $5.9 billion in total revenue last year, up 10% from 2023, its financial statement shows. Expenses still outpaced that growth, rising 12% year-over-year to total $5 billion. Blye said that like hospitals and health systems across the country, “increasing labor and supply costs continue to negatively impact Montefiore’s bottom line.”
Montefiore did not respond to a question from Crain’s about its long-term fiscal picture. Blye said that the hospital will continue to partner with elected officials and peer organizations to advocate for federal funding in the face of “significant uncertainty.”
