By ANDY GARDNER

MASSENA -- Rising numbers overall of people seeking treatment were not enough to head off a $1.4 million loss at Massena Memorial Hospital in June, a month where officials said inpatient volumes dropped alongside national trends.

At the July 23 MMH Board of Managers meeting, Trustee Tina Buckley reported the seven-figure loss, but said their outpatient clinic volume is going up. That trend that has been consistently noted at monthly hospital board meetings.

"(Inpatient) volume was down from last year,” Buckley said. "That results in an approximately $2 million revenue decrease."

A financial and statistical summary says they discharged 122 inpatients in June, down 40 percent from 205 in June 2017.

“It seems to be a nationwide trend,” she said.

MMH Chief Financial Officer Pat Facteau said emergency room visits are down, which translates to decreased inpatient admissions.

"The emergency room is down about 300 visits,” Facteau said Monday. "That's like 45 admissions we didn't get just from the emergency room … all things the government wants to happen."

Buckley pointed to an uptick in outpatient clinical visits. The summary shows a 58 percent increase from 2,931 in June 2017 to 4,630 June 2018, and a 61 percent increase between the 2017 and 2018 year-to-date totals, respectively 18,227 and 29,361.

Buckley said three of their recently acquired offices -- ear, nose and throat Dr. Henri Gaboreau, St. Lawrence Internists and the nephrology clinic -- had treated more than 10,000 patients to date.

She also announced outpatient volume increases at their health centers, including those in Brasher and Louisville, between 12 and 38 percent.

The financial and statistical summary says the hospital planned on the increase in clinical visits, but did not anticipate the decrease in inpatient discharges. The June 2018 4,630 visits to hospital-based clinics are less than 1 percent below the figure anticipated in their budget. It says the 122 inpatient discharges is about 37 percent below what was calculated in their spending plan.