Courtesy Berglund Construction
Acadia Healthcare is adding room for more mental health patients, but higher revenue did not mean higher profit this quarter.
The behavioral health operator added 220 licensed beds in the third quarter and raised its full-year financial outlook. Revenue rose 5.1% to $895.3 million, while net income attributable to Acadia fell to $34.5 million from $36.2 million a year earlier, according to its results announced Wednesday.
For families looking for inpatient psychiatric care, the added capacity is the practical development. It means more licensed treatment space, though the company-wide bed count does not tell a family whether a particular hospital has an opening, accepts its insurance or offers the right program.
More beds, with different businesses moving different ways
The additions included a new 144-bed hospital near Jacksonville, Florida, and 76 beds at existing facilities. Acadia also opened one comprehensive treatment center and closed another during the quarter.
Across facilities counted in both periods, patient days increased 1.1%, while revenue per patient day rose 4.0%. That distinction matters: most of the 5.2% same-facility revenue increase came from more revenue per day of care, rather than a similar-sized jump in patient days.
Acute inpatient psychiatric revenue rose 11.3% to $524.8 million, with inpatient volumes up 7.5%, which Acadia attributed primarily to expanded capacity. Residential treatment revenue rose 6.7% to $93.4 million.
Other operations moved backward. Specialty treatment revenue fell 8.2% to $136.0 million, reflecting performance at Pennsylvania facilities and closures over the past year. Comprehensive treatment center revenue fell 2.3% to $141.1 million.
The profit outlook improved, with an important payment boost
Operating expenses rose 6.4% to $728.1 million, faster than revenue. Salaries, wages and benefits rose 6.1% to $490.3 million, which Acadia linked to new facilities and routine annual wage increases.
Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP earnings measure, increased to $176.4 million from $173.0 million. But adjusted net income fell to $54.6 million from $64.8 million. Neither measure is the same as reported net income.
The quarter’s adjusted EBITDA included a favorable $13.4 million pre-tax accrual for expected Florida supplemental payments. Acadia’s previous guidance had included $5.6 million for that item. That payment assumption is part of the improved picture, alongside facility performance.
The company now expects full-year revenue of $3.44 billion to $3.46 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $615 million to $625 million. Its July ranges were $3.40 billion to $3.45 billion and $590 million to $615 million, respectively.
The higher outlook is a forecast, not a completed result. For patients, the central question remains local access to care. For investors, it is whether expanding capacity and higher payments can outpace rising operating costs.
JBizNews Desk | Franklin, Tenn.
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