Operating margin: -21.7% in FY2025, the 11th percentile of 1,322 critical access hospitals in the FY2025 pool. Days cash on hand: -10 days in FY2025, the 1st percentile of 1,297 critical access hospitals in the FY2025 pool. Total operating revenue: $44.5M in FY2025, the 64th percentile of 1,331 critical access hospitals in the FY2025 pool. Total margin (including nonoperating): -0.6% in FY2025, the 24th percentile of 1,322 critical access hospitals in the FY2025 pool. Figures as filed; not audited by Astrelis.
Financial anchor year: FY25. Margin and revenue are as filed for FY25. Balance-sheet measures (current ratio, equity financing, days in A/R) use FY24, the latest filing whose balance sheet reconciled as filed. Every tile below states its own fiscal year; nothing is carried forward or estimated.
The read
A hospital in Columbus, NC. It ran an operating loss of 21.7% in FY25 on $44.5M of operating revenue. It held -10 days of cash on hand — an Astrelis calculation outside expected range, shown at the chart boundary and ranked in its pool (1st percentile of 1,297 Critical Access Hospitals on liquidity, FY25 pool). Operating margin declined from -6.6% in FY20 to -21.7% in FY25.
Operating margin · FY25
-21.7%
Astrelis calculation · as-filed inputs
▼ 31.0 pts vs FY24
vs Critical Access Hospitals11th pctl of 1,322 (FY25 pool)
pool: this metric's own fiscal year · excludes historical, non-panel, and out-of-range values
Days cash on hand · FY25
-10d
all sources
Astrelis calculation · as-filed inputs
▼ 145 days vs FY24
vs Critical Access Hospitals1st pctl of 1,297 (FY25 pool)
pool: this metric's own fiscal year · excludes historical, non-panel, and out-of-range values
Total operating revenue · FY25
$44.5M
Astrelis calculation · as-filed inputs
▼ $8.6M vs FY24
vs Critical Access Hospitals64th pctl of 1,331 (FY25 pool)
pool: this metric's own fiscal year · excludes historical, non-panel, and out-of-range values
Total margin · incl. nonoperating · FY25
-0.6%
Astrelis calculation · as-filed inputs
▼ 15.5 pts vs FY24
vs Critical Access Hospitals24th pctl of 1,322 (FY25 pool)
pool: this metric's own fiscal year · excludes historical, non-panel, and out-of-range values
One point of operating margin at ST LUKES HOSPITAL is about $445K per year (1% of FY25 total operating revenue).
Where ST LUKES HOSPITAL sits among Critical Access Hospitals
Operating margin · FY25 pool · n = 1,322 of 1,404 filed
Each point is one Critical Access Hospital in the national FY25 distribution for Critical Access Hospitals, this hospital's comparison cohort, placed by operating margin. Facilities are not matched on size, case mix, or market; that is the matched-peer comparison in the paid benchmark. The Critical Access Hospital FY25 median is -0.6%. Descriptive context only, not a ranking.
One critical access hospitalST LUKESCritical Access Hospital median
The money
$ thousands · HCRIS cost-report basis · as filed, QA-gated
Ratios tell you how this hospital is doing. Statements tell you what kind of organization it is, and where the money comes from. Every figure below traces to a public cost-report filing, shown as filed. A ratio computes only when every input is reported in the filing (otherwise its cell states which input is Not reported in source); a year whose balance sheet does not reconcile is labeled, and its derived ratios read Astrelis calculation unavailable. Not audited by Astrelis.
Net patient receivables × days in the report's own period ÷ net patient revenue, same fiscal year
Astrelis calculation · HCRIS WS G / G-3
$ in thousands
Line item
FY23
FY24
FY25
Patient revenue
44,046
50,232
44,381
Other operating revenue
1,244
2,912
153
Total operating revenue
45,291
53,144
44,534
Total operating expenses
45,399
48,223
54,196
Operating income
(108)
4,920
(9,662)
Operating margin %
-0.2%
+9.3%
-21.7%
Grants & contributions
2,766
—
—
Investment income
530
760
—
Other non-operating, net
1,149
2,764
9,391
Net income
4,337
8,445
(271)
Net income %
+8.7%
+14.9%
-0.6%
— = Not reported in source for that year.
HCRIS Worksheet G-3 / S-3 · $ thousands · FY20–FY25 · FY20–21 may include COVID-era relief funding in nonoperating income
Display states.FY24 · Net patient A/R: 3,537K — Astrelis calculation · outside expected range; shown at the chart boundary and included in peer statistics (AD-1198: calculation shown and flagged. net A/R = gross - |allowances| = -2326.2K (gross HOSP10_2024_nmrc.csv G000000 L00400; allowances L00500 5863.5K + L00600 33978.1K, magnitudes). Result is outside expected range vs total assets; displayed with the out-of-range state, never withheld. AD-1206: allowances net on crosswalk lines beyond L5/L6; panel aligned to the bucket layer's contra-netted value (one value across surfaces).)FY25 · Days cash on hand: -10 days — Astrelis calculation · outside expected range; shown at the chart boundary and included in peer statistics (outside the 0–1,500-day expected range — a valid filing can produce this; the pool absorbs it)
How it operates
quality & operational context · CMS public reporting
A 19-bed hospital running at 32% occupancy, where swing beds are 31% of the inpatient business, and 89% of patient revenue is outpatient.
The metrics this hospital type is judged on: care quality, patient experience, and scale. Each is labeled by provenance class and public source; descriptive context only, never a ranking or adequacy claim. Provenance labels: Reported value is copied from the named public source; Astrelis calculation is a formula applied to unchanged reported inputs, with the formula shown; Illustrative estimate is a benchmark gap, multiplier, or scenario — never a measurement.
Scale and flow
Occupancy
32.4%
Reported value2025
HCRIS WS S-3
Average daily census
6.16
Reported value2025
HCRIS WS S-3
Staffed beds (acute)
19
Reported value2025
HCRIS WS S-3
Annual discharges
806
Reported value2025
HCRIS WS S-3
Average length of stay
3 days
Reported value2025
HCRIS WS S-3
Cost per patient day
$24,108
Astrelis calculation2025
Astrelis calculation — total operating expense ÷ total patient days (HCRIS WS G-3 / S-3)
Cost per discharge (unadjusted)
$67,240
Astrelis calculation2025
Astrelis calculation — total operating expense ÷ discharges, NOT case-mix adjusted (adjusted discharges are not on the public filing set)
Swing-bed average daily census
2.76
Reported value2025
HCRIS WS S-3 L5–6
Swing-bed share of inpatient days
31.0%
Reported value2025
HCRIS WS S-3 (acute + swing days)
Outpatient share of patient revenue
88.6%
Reported value2025
HCRIS WS G-2 L28
Who it serves
Total unreimbursed & uncompensated care
$3.4M
Reported value2023
HCRIS WS S-10 line 31
How the care measures up
C. difficile infection (SIR)
0
No Different than National Benchmark
CMS-reported measure07/01/2024 to 06/30/2025
CMS Care Compare
Hospital-wide unplanned readmission
14.6%
No Different Than the National Rate
CMS-reported measure07/01/2023 to 06/30/2024
CMS Care Compare
Trajectory
Cost-report basis · 6 reporting years
Operating margin
Days cash on hand
The county this hospital serves
POLK County, NC · nonmetro, rural, metro-adjacent
Median household income
$61.0K
vs $82.1K US · $59.7K rural median
Poverty rate
13.7%
vs 12.5% US · 14.3% rural median
Uninsured
9.7%
vs 8.6% US · 8.4% rural median
Age 65+
32.1%
vs 16.8% US · 20.6% rural median
Fair or poor health
20.0%
self-reported, adults · CDC PLACES
Primary-care shortage
Designated
HRSA HPSA
Economic context: 10.5% of county personal income is Medicare/Medicaid medical benefits; 26.7% arrives as government transfers (BEA, 2022).
Illustrative advocacy scenario: what this hospital means to Polk County
Illustrative estimate · FY25 cost report
Direct annual spending
$54.2M
total operating expense · Reported value, not a local-capture estimate
Economic activity
$124.7M
direct spending × 2.30 · AHA national hospital economic activity report — a national hospital ratio, not a CAH or county figure · Illustrative estimate
Employment and labor income multipliers are from the National Center for Rural Health Works 2016 study of Critical Access Hospital economic impact (IMPLAN Type II, U.S. rural county populations); the economic-activity ratio is from the AHA national hospital economic activity report and describes U.S. hospitals as a whole; it is not a CAH-specific or county-specific figure. Applying any of these to an individual facility is an illustrative advocacy scenario, not a measurement: local capture depends on payroll residency, purchasing patterns, and county economic structure the sources do not observe. This facility is a critical access hospital, the NCRHW study population. Direct figures are reported values from the facility's HCRIS cost report. Want a defensible facility-specific figure? Request a Facility Economic Impact Study →
Operating margin vs its peer poolFY25Astrelis calculation
Operating margin vs its peer pool: FY25 pool · n = 1,322.
CAH Performance Benchmark: FY25 peer pool · n = 1,322 · conservative low band; acuity limits stated in the report.
Report coverage: Limited Facility Benchmark. 15 of 17 facility measures available from public sources. The report covers the available measures against their peer benchmarks; measures the public record does not carry become findings. Coverage is disclosed here before you reserve, and thin data is never a decline reason. The refund guarantee stands: if we cannot deliver the published scope, you pay nothing.
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Astrelis Atlas, "St Lukes Hospital", https://astrelis.co/hospitals/341322, release 2321a4fc37a7 (2026-10-22). Figures as filed in the named public sources; not audited by Astrelis.
Machine-readable twin of this page: astrelis.co/hospitals/341322.md (Markdown, the same figures with their fiscal years, pools and definitions). Last modified: release 2321a4fc37a7, 2026-10-22. Figures are as filed in the named public sources. Astrelis is not a CPA firm and performs no audit, review or attestation of any facility.
