Mar 29, 2017 - Health

Hospital company spinoff posts big losses

Richard Drew / AP

Shares of Quorum Health plummeted 14% Wednesday after the owner of 36 mostly rural hospitals reported fourth-quarter and full-year 2016 losses that were bigger than what Wall Street had expected. Quorum lost $348 million in 2016 and had to write off millions of dollars in patient bills that couldn't be collected.

Quorum's struggles may not be surprising: Community Health Systems spun out Quorum last year as a way to get rid of some rural and mid-size hospitals that were dragging the company down. Community Health Systems isn't faring a lot better.

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