Southwest Health Systems reports stronger operating margin, readies electronic records change; flags federal funding risk

Southwest Health Systems delivered a detailed operating update at a Montezuma County Board of County Commissioners workshop, with hospital representative Joe Thine reporting a return to a positive operating margin and plans to move the hospital and clinics to a single electronic health-record system.

Thine said the hospital finished last year with a positive operating margin and that year‑to‑date 2025 results are tracking roughly the same. "If we have a couple of months like we plan to between now and the end of the year, we'll finish with a higher operating margin than we did last year," he said.

Why it matters: The hospital serves a largely rural population and relies heavily on Medicaid-linked funding streams; changes to federal programs or state allocations could reduce reimbursements and increase uncompensated care, which would pressure…