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While no healthcare system is immune from the economic forces that affect other businesses, hospitals tend to be stabilizing forces in their communities. This is especially true of CHS, which continued throughout 2009 to expand facilities, enhance services and recruit new personnel.
This type of economic impact is multi-dimensional. Not only do hospitals generate payroll and purchase considerable amounts of goods and services, they also provide a significant "community benefit." This is a specific industry term that defines a wide variety of activities that not only enhance the quality of healthcare but support public education and welfare.
Community benefit includes such things as providing charity care for the uninsured, making financial assistance available for the underinsured, and underwriting a variety of services -- such as mental health -- that fulfill a vital need but do not pay for themselves. Community benefit also includes the value of direct support provided to local civic and charitable organizations by healthcare personnel.
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Community Benefit