Black is beautiful at BJC Medical Center

It had operated at a loss of $1 million over the first six months of the financial year, which started July 1.

“Initially, we thought it would be February before things turned around and there might be a slight gain,” Leadbetter said. “This is encouraging for our future financial picture.”

Most of the turnaround was attributed to cost-cutting measures that included the layoffs of 45 workers and the termination of some contract services, but Leadbetter said revenue was also up slightly.

He said the facility’s moves “will bring $2 million to the bottom line” over the first year.

Based on those measures, Leadbetter predicted that the medical center will end its current year $759,000 in the red.

CEO Jim Yarborough conceded that the cost-cutting measures required “a very lot of tough decisions, and a lot of sacrifices by staff members who were let go, and also those that remain,” but added that “from a financial, statistical view, they were moves that had to be made.”