Ohio Hospitals Benefit to Communities: $1.5 Billion Plus

COLUMBUS—Telling a $1.5 billion story of compassionate, quality caring, the Ohio Hospital Association (OHA) today unveiled the first coordinated, public statewide community benefit report for Ohio hospitals.

The 166 community hospitals that participated in the report, Building Healthy Communities, provided more than $1.5 billion in community benefit in 2005, the most recent year for which data is available. The report showcases the many compelling contributions hospitals make within and outside their walls.

The $1.5 billion story includes Ohio hospitals’ aggregate $320.8 million in Medicaid losses, $816 million in charity care, and $887 million in community activities, which includes immunization programs, health screenings, medical research and education costs, disaster relief, support for community programs and more.

Even at $1.5 billion, the report understates the amount of community benefit provided by Ohio hospitals. Some hospitals did not fully account for community activities in 2005, and Medicaid and Medicare costs reports, which are the basis for reporting Medicaid losses and charity care for some hospitals, do not fully account for all costs hospitals incur.

Also not included in the official total of $1.5 billion, but a vital part of the total picture, are the financial contributions hospitals make to subsidize bad debt – a $313.1 million total – and Medicare losses – a $393.5 million shortfall. These elements are noted in the report but not as part of the community benefit total in accordance with Catholic Health Association and VHA Inc. guidelines, the nationally recognized standard on community benefit reporting.

Building not only healthy communities but a healthy economy, the Buckeye state’s hospitals pumped $58.8 billion into Ohio’s economy and collectively employed 522,898 Ohioans either directly or indirectly in 2005.

Numbers only make up a piece of the total community benefit picture. The report also includes stories of how caregivers go beyond expectations both inside and outside the hospital’s walls.

“Ohio hospitals are the cornerstones of health and wellness in their communities. The dedicated people working in Ohio’s hospitals reach out to countless Ohioans every day to provide treatment, support and hope,” said OHA President and CEO James R. Castle.

OHA modeled its report on the Catholic Health Association’s and VHA Inc.’s “Community Benefit Reporting: Guidelines and Standard Definitions for the Community Benefit Inventory for Social Accountability” to obtain the hospital-reported information including: community activities, charity care, and Medicaid losses, as well as, Medicare losses and bad debt. Economic impact data was provided by the American Hospital Association. OHA will continue to work with hospitals to standardize definitions and data sources to improve reporting for future year’s community benefit reports. The 2007 statewide report, Building Healthy Communities, is available online at www.ohanet.org/benefit/.

The Ohio Hospital Association was established in 1915 and currently represents 166 hospitals and 40 health systems throughout Ohio. OHA is a membership-driven organization that provides proactive leadership to create an environment in which Ohio hospitals are successful in serving their communities. Visit OHA’s Web site at www.ohanet.org.  For information on top health care issues, visit the online OHA News Media Center at www.ohanet.org/media/.

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