Butler Health System turned in another strong financial performance for the 2016 fiscal year, but persistent uncertainty over the fate of ObamaCare and federal spending on health care in general will keep the system guessing, BHS’ top administrator said Thursday.

“We don’t know what’s coming next — nobody does,” said BHS President and CEO Ken DeFurio. “We just know it’s likely to be very difficult.”

BHS and other hospital systems across the country have spent recent years grappling with the complexities of the Affordable Care Act. Now, DeFurio said they will likely be grappling with new health care proposals from President-elect Donald Trump, who has vowed to repeal and replace ObamaCare, as well as the will of Congressional Republicans, who DeFurio said could roll back federal health care spending overall.

“We will be as proactive as we can possibly be,” he said of how the system would respond to the changes at the federal level. “We want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.”

DeFurio’s comments came at the health system’s annual public meeting held at Butler Memorial Hospital, where he and other administrators presented data summing up the 2016 fiscal year, which ended June 30.

The financial story is one of continued growth for BHS, which saw total revenue of $327.8 million and expenses of $302.7 million. The difference — reflecting a positive operating margin of $25.1 million — is larger than the $20.8 million the system reported in 2015. BHS has reported a positive operating margin every year since fiscal year 2011, according to information provided by the hospital.

For Anne Krebs, BHS’ chief financial officer, the financial strength is a function of the system’s push to expand its facilities, services and staff — which has, in turn, driven a years-long increase of 13 percent in total admissions since 2007. For fiscal year 2016 the hospital reported total admissions of 17,313, up slightly from 16,840 last year. Emergency room visits, while still up 22 percent overall since 2007, were down slightly from last year, at 48,445.

Total outpatient visits — 515,290 for 2016 — also increased from last year, when BHS reported 501,268 outpatient visits. And the total number of surgical procedures the system is performing rose from 19,689 last year to 20,108 for 2016, as the health system added capacity for high-end procedures in fields like neurosurgery and thoracic surgery, and saw continued growth in orthopedics as well.

“It’s really exciting, we continue to do well in all categories,” Krebs said.

To accommodate the increased services offered by the system, BHS also continued a 9-year run of staff growth. With 2,293 employees on staff for 2016 — the majority of which came from adding to BHS’ ambulatory and physician network — the system has seen a 27 percent increase in its staff since 2007.

DeFurio called the consistent growth of BHS’ staff a testament to the system’s push to improve patients’ experiences and entice physicians to join the system by offering upgraded facilities and expanded services — two things he sees as closely related.

“I think at a human level it is very much the same thing,” he said. “They want to feel like they’re getting personalized service, and they want to feel safe and confident,” in the facilities and the care.

According to data compiled by Medicare, those facilities are delivering care at levels better than national averages for safety and quality. The metrics measure things like surgical accidents and incidents, readmission rates, as well as performance in the hospital system’s emergency room.

BHS outperformed the national average in most categories, according to data provided by the hospital — something Dr. Thomas McGill, BHS’ chief information officer and vice president of quality and safety, said had both financial and public health benefits.

“My guiding principle is that higher quality care decreases suffering and saves money,” McGill said.