As they brace for bigger challenges, hospitals at JPM say they’re going ‘back to the basics’

Tara Bannow covers hospitals, providers, and insurers. You can reach Tara on Signal at tarabannow.70.

SAN FRANCISCO — At this swanky investor event in the heart of San Francisco’s financial district, the country’s biggest nonprofit health systems usually talk up their money-making prowess and market share. 

But at this year’s J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, held as hospitals stare down historic cuts to Medicaid, the leaders who spoke lacked their normal swagger. Their pitch to investors was decidedly measured, with executives on Monday hammering themes of stability and consistency. Gone were the promises of mega-mergers and getting tough with health insurers. In their place: staying in the black, hopefully.  

“For me, it’s been about stabilizing,” Kevin Smith, chief financial officer of SSM Health, a 23-hospital system based in St. Louis, said in an interview. “Taking a look at the operations, doing a lot of blocking and tackling. Getting back to the basics.”