Pre-tax profits at the Galway Clinic in Doughiska took a sharp drop of 44.5 percent down to €5.15 million in 2017.
According to new accounts filed profits at Galway Clinic by fell from €9.29 million to €5.15 million as revenue declined only marginally from €90.93 million to €90.65 million.
The Irish Times reports that Larry Goodman, one of the owners of the clinic, attributes the decline to a number of rising costs.
Medical inflation is hitting the bottom line as the reimbursement provided by health insurers fails to keep up with inflation.
The insurance costs for medical indemnity are also rising, which he says is making it harder to attract top physicians to Ireland.
Directors of the clinic say they are pursuing a number of strategies to keep down the risk of a labour shortage across all roles in the medical sector.
As of the end of 2017 the clinic had accumulated €91 million in profits, but the directors say that shareholders haven’t taken a dividend yet.
Despite this risk the number of people employed by Galway Clinic went up from 633 to 648, raising staff costs by €2.3 million.
Other costs incurred by the clinic in recent years include rising expenditure to meet national and international guidelines, which is expected to continue to grow in the future.
Post tax profits at Galway Clinic cam to €4.12 million in 2017 after paying corporation tax of €1 million.
