Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare saw strong growth from both inpatient and outpatient cardiac surgeries in the first quarter, but spending remains stable.
“Our capital allocation within our capital spending hasn’t really changed, and I don’t anticipate it’s going to change materially as we push forward here,” CEO Sam Hazen said during the company’s first-quarter earnings call on April 25 transcribed by Seeking Alpha.
Here are four more trends to know:
1. A large portion of HCA’s capital expenditure is still directed toward inpatient facility development, with $6.2 billion worth of capital projects currently approved and under construction, focused heavily on inpatient expansion, Mr. Hazen said. These investments are expected to increase inpatient capacity by 2.5% or more in the next few years.
2. Outpatient expansion (including catheterization labs, ASCs and emergency departments) is ongoing but requires relatively smaller capital commitments. Mr. Hazen said that while outpatient infrastructure is important, it represents “smaller dollars” compared to large hospital buildouts.
3. HCA is actively investing in clinical technology to enhance patient care and physician efficiency. Although specific spending figures were not detailed, Mr. Hazen highlighted that equipment upgrades are a material and growing part of capital expenditure, driven by the need to stay competitive with newer technologies.
4. HCA maintains a “nice pipeline of new projects,” Mr. Hazen said that “will make sense beyond the ones that we’ve approved, and there won’t be any material change in sort of the allocation of the dollars within those categories.”
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