Business and Basis of Presentation

9 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2013

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

BUSINESS AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION

BUSINESS AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION

Vanguard Health Systems, Inc. (the “Company”) is an investor-owned health care company whose subsidiaries and affiliates own and operate hospitals and related health care businesses in urban and suburban areas. As of March 31, 2013, the Company’s subsidiaries and affiliates owned and operated 28 acute care hospitals with 7,081 licensed beds and related outpatient service locations complementary to the hospitals providing health care services in San Antonio, Harlingen and Brownsville, Texas; metropolitan Detroit, Michigan; metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona; metropolitan Chicago, Illinois; and Massachusetts. The Company also owns managed health plans in Chicago, Illinois; Detroit, Michigan; Harlingen, Texas; and Phoenix, Arizona; and two surgery centers in Orange County, California.

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of subsidiaries and affiliates controlled by the Company. The Company generally defines control as the ownership of the majority of an entity’s voting interests. The Company also consolidates any entities for which it receives the majority of the entity’s expected returns or is at risk for the majority of the entity’s expected losses based upon its investment or financial interest in the entity. All material intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated. The majority of the Company’s expenses are “cost of revenue” items. Costs that could be classified as general and administrative include certain corporate office costs of the Company, which approximated $14.1 million and $10.0 million for the three months endedMarch 31, 2012 and 2013, respectively, and $41.0 million and $43.0 million for the nine months endedMarch 31, 2012 and 2013, respectively.

The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements as of March 31, 2013 and for the three months and nine months endedMarch 31, 2012 and 2013 have been prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States for interim reporting and in accordance with Rule 10-01 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and notes required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States for complete financial statements. In the opinion of the Company's management, the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements reflect all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring adjustments) necessary for a fair presentation of the Company’s financial position and results of operations for the periods presented. The results of operations for the periods presented are not necessarily indicative of the expected results for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2013. The interim unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in connection with the audited consolidated financial statements as of and for the year ended June 30, 2012 included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K (the “10-K”) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 24, 2012. The accompanying condensed consolidated balance sheet at June 30, 2012 has been derived from the audited consolidated financial statements included in the 10-K.

Use of Estimates

In preparing the Company’s financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, the Company's management makes estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts recorded or classification of items in the condensed consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. Actual results could differ from those estimates.