Community Benefit

Behind every healthcare dollar is a person. They may be injured or sick, or in the final days of their lives. They may have ignored healthcare for years or they may be brand new to this world. We meet each person where they are and we gently care for them – body, mind and spirit.

They are people like “Max.” He is a real CHI Health patient, whose name has been changed to protect his personal health information. Like most of us, Max knows any major change in his health will affect his whole family. So when that change snuck up on him, Max found himself in excruciating pain – pain that led to lost income when he couldn’t work – and he admits it left him with a sour outlook on life. Max had no choice but to seek care even though he didn’t know how he would ever pay for it. With the pressure and pain mounting, Max came to CHI Health, where he found help – for the pain and for the financial stress – and even for that sour outlook. He says it’s, “HUGE! It demonstrates that, with all the insurance and government policy problems, somebody indeed cares for me, my wife, my kids and for everyone else our lives touch.”

Max is one of 180,130 people we covered last year who needed care but couldn’t pay for it. The financial investment was $68.5 million. The care for another 114,555 Medicaid patients wasn’t fully covered. That care investment totaled $93.5 million.

Another $17.3 million touched countless families served through our broader community investment, which has four specific areas of focus: Root Causes of Health, Obesity/Chronic Disease, Behavioral Health and Violence. Each program we support – whether it’s an afterschool anti-bullying program or a community garden – connects back to an area of focus. Some say our investment into patients like Max is nothing more than the cost of doing business. Perhaps, but to people like Max it’s so much more. Like many of the people who benefit from our charity care, Max promises to pay the kindness and generosity forward. His plea to us, “keep going!” We will, Max, we will.

I hope you will take a few minutes to read this publication, which is a transparent report of the dollars we, as a not-for-profit organization, have invested in our communities over the last fiscal year. I hope you enjoy stories from our own employees, the true champions of the communities we serve, and how they are making a difference as we fulfill our mission of creating healthier communities. It is truly a blessing to serve you.

Gratefully,

Cliff A. Robertson, MD
Chief Executive Officer, CHI Health

Download the CHI Health Community Benefit Report 2018 (PDF)

Download the CHI Health Community Benefit Report 2017 (PDF)

Download the CHI Health Community Benefit Report 2016 (PDF)