Brooks Memorial Hospital, which is currently facing a financial crisis, reported revenues of $46,623,658 and expenses of $47,116,708 for a deficit of $493,050. TLC Health Network, however, had much brighter figures for the same fiscal period as it reported revenues of $38,572,822 and expenses of $31,740,317 for a net surplus of $6,832,505.

These reports, which are displayed at www.guidestar.com, of the private, not-for-profit institutions are nearly two years old but have been recently posted only within the last two weeks. The figures give insight into how much fiscal trouble, in 2018 and this year, Brooks Memorial is truly facing.

Even in 2017, New York state was infusing the institution with more than $5.5 million in operating subsidies.

Brooks, which has plans for a $70 million state-of-the-art facility in the village of Fredonia at the former Cornell Cooperative Extension site, has lost millions in the last decade. The greatest concern of the 2017 documents is the net assets of the hospital. At the end of the fiscal year, that number is only $436,968 — down from $3,316,625 in 2016.

TLC, however, was on an uptick. The formerly bankrupt institution was holding its own, according to its documents. A significant chunk of revenue came from three sources that totaled more than $12 million: a gain on the bankruptcy settlement of $6,309,475; safety net funding from New York state of $5,425,436; and $375,213 in a Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment from the state.

The reform incentive payment’s purpose, according to the state Department of Health, is to fundamentally restructure the health care delivery system by reinvesting in the Medicaid program, with the primary goal of reducing avoidable hospital use.

These financial documents closed the books on the hospitals being two separate entities. In early 2018, Kaleida Health issued a news release stating Brooks and TLC were merging and becoming a part of the “twin tier” network that includes the Olean, Bradford, Pa., and Cuba Memorial hospitals.

“In an effort to best serve our respective patients, the twin tier will work as an integrated system with Kaleida Health to rapidly improve quality, leverage its scale plus integrate and optimize its use of technology,” the release noted in 2018. “This will better position all entities and help them achieve sustainability into the future, leveraging Upper Allegheny infrastructure and capabilities.”

In a meeting last month with the OBSERVER, both Chris Lanski, chair of the Brooks-TLC board of directors, and Mary E. LaRowe, chief executive officer, indicated that though the process of building a new Brooks has taken longer than anticipated, it continues to be on track.