R.E. Thomason General Hospital brought in $39 million more than it spent during the fiscal year ending Sept. 30 "" a 144 percent improvement over the $16 million surplus posted the previous fiscal year.

In fact, earnings for the single year of 2007 were better than the cumulative earnings for the past 11 years, said Jim Valenti, who oversees the nonprofit Thomason as CEO of the El Paso County Hospital District.

"This was the banner year of our 92-year history," Valenti said. "We are grateful for the support we've received from El Pasoans. Our goal is to continue to exceed their expectations."

During fiscal year 2007, revenues from patient revenue, federal and state funding plus income from the El Paso property tax levy amounted to $329 million, up from $310 million collected in 2006.

Expenditures in 2007 ran $290 million, a slight decline from $294 million in 2006.

The information is contained in an independent audit performed by BKD, one of the country's ten largest CPA and advisory firms. The audit was approved last month by the hospital's board of managers and will be presented to the El Paso County Commissioners Court next month.

The hospital described it as a "clean, unqualified audit opinion." The auditors, in the draft of a letter to the board of managers, concurred, saying they believe hospital's financial statements "present fairly, in all material aspects, the financial position" of the hospital.

Financial turnaround
In the early 2000s, Thomason was widely viewed to be sinkhole for public funds, losing between $1 million and $1.3 million a month. A financial turnaround started with the arrival of Valenti in September 2005.

During fiscal year 2004, the hospital registered an operating loss of $13 million. Valenti took over in 2005 and reduced that loss to $5 million. In 2006, the hospital reversed the drain and posted a $16 million increase in net assets. That was boosted further in 2007 to $39 million.

"All we're doing is applying operation and financial accountability principals to the hospital district to achieve those results," Valenti said.

It's been 29 straight months, now, that Thomason has posted positive earnings, he said.

This past year, internal medicine, cardiovascular and surgical services and internal medicine were primarily responsible for the up tick in patient revenue.

"Overall the hospital was much busier than in the previous year for those services. Part of that's because we started the cardiovascular program at the beginning of last year," Valenti said.

And the black bottom line over the past two years has enabled the hospital to better improve its services.

"We're able to recruit more physicians and nurses, grow important clinical programs, cover more uninsured El Pasoans and renovate and build facilities," Valenti said.

Last year, Thomason completed a new respiratory care department, expanded physician offices, established physician coverage at a clinic in the Mission Valley and purchased a high-speed CT scanner.

Next month, the Thomason will open a second intensive care unit, adding 20 critical-care beds. Later in the new year, it will break ground on a primary care facility in Northeast El Paso and a 10-story tower next door to the hospital on Alameda. That building will become home to the separately licensed Children's Hospital.

Name change?
By producing a net income, Thomason is also accelerating its evolution as a university medical center, Valenti said.

Dr. Manny de la Rosa, founding dean of the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine at Texas Tech in El Paso, is counting on Thomason to function as a university hospital.

"We need Thomason to not only take care of patients, take care of indigent patients and take care of the diseases of El Paso, but also to function as a research center for Texas Tech faculty," de la Rosa said.

Valenti said Thomason has already taken a first step in this direction by becoming a member of the Council of Teaching Hospitals.

He said Thomason may seek to change its name later this coming year to reflect its status as a university medical center in anticipation of the opening of the four-year medical school.

Tax rate cut
All this is happening without seeking more financial help from El Paso property taxpayers.

The local property tax brings in about $50 million a year to Thomason and amounted to 15 percent of the total revenue last year.

"Financial stability means we can keep our tax rate low," Valenti said.

"Local homeowners will not see an increase in Hospital District taxes next year, despite double digit increases in property valuations, because Thomason just recently cut its tax rate from 18.6 cents per $100 assessed valuation to 17.2 cents. The district's rate is now 39 percent lower than it was in 1990," he said.

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