DISTRESSED DAILY: Turnaround Efforts Stall at Community Health

Community Health Systems Inc. was looking like a turnaround story.

But the pressures of the pandemic and a high debt load are weighing on the hospital chain. Community cut its earnings forecast when it reported results in April, and its bonds and stock have been sliding since March.

The hospital chain isn’t alone. The higher labor, supply costs and lower revenues that accompanied the coronavirus pandemic have squelched earnings at other large for-profit chains including HCA Healthcare Inc. and Universal Health Services. At the same time, billions of dollars in government aid allotted to help hospitals weather the pandemic ...