(Reuters) -HCA Healthcare Inc on Friday raised its results forecast for 2023 on improving levels of staffing that has allowed the hospital operator to conduct more surgeries, lifting its shares by over 5% in premarket trade.
A spate of resignations by healthcare staff due to pandemic-related fatigue left hospitals high and dry, forcing them to pay premiums to hire workers. But the costs have begun to normalize as staff shortages are minimized and workflows optimized.
In the first quarter, increased staffing helped HCA's inpatient surgery cases rise 2.8% and outpatient surgery cases climb 3.5%.
HCA reported an adjusted profit of $4.93 per share, beating the average of analyst estimate by a dollar.
The company now sees its 2023 adjusted profit in the range of $17.25 to $18.55 per share, compared with its previous forecast of $16.40 to $17.60.
It also raised its revenue forecast range to $62.5 billion to $64.5 billion.
(Reporting by Aditya Samal and Leroy Leo in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
