New London - The parent corporation of Lawrence + Memorial Hospital and The Westerly Hospital will end fiscal 2014 with a negative operating margin, the second year in a row that expenses outpaced revenues.

Hospital spokesman Mike O'Farrell said during a meeting with The Day's editorial board Monday that the specific amount of the shortfall won't be released until the Dec. 11 annual meeting at the Mystic Marriott. Costs associated with the four-week strike and lockout of about 800 unionized nurses and technicians last year are one of the major factors in the weak financial performance, he said.

In fiscal 2013, L+M Healthcare's expenses exceeded revenues by 1.76 percent, short of the goal set by the Board of Directors of a 3 percent positive operating margin. L+M Healthcare includes the main hospital, Westerly Hospital, the Visiting Nurse Association of Southeastern Connecticut and L+M Medical Group. O'Farrell said Westerly Hospital and the VNA ended the year in the black, but that was not the case at either the main hospital or the medical group.

The region's other hospital, The William W. Backus Hospital in Norwich, on Nov. 19 announced it was ending fiscal 2014 with a positive operating margin of 16.2 percent.

O'Farrell said L+M Healthcare's financial performance should not be compared to Backus alone, but to that of the entire Hartford Healthcare network that it is part of. Hartford Healthcare had a 2.1 percent positive margin for fiscal 2014.

Dr. Christopher Lehrach, president of the L+M Medical Group since Aug. 1, said the organization of 110 doctors and about 320 other staff is focusing on increasing the number of primary care providers at its 17 locations. There are about 40 primary care doctors, physician assistants and advanced practice registered nurses in the group, and another six have been hired who will be starting in the next few months. Offers have been made to two more primary care doctors, he said.

"The medical group was very specialty heavy," he said. "We need to focus on primary care."

j.benson@theday.com

Twitter: @BensonJudy