Lee Health donated $179 million last year through charity care, health fair offerings and education to support communities.
That's according to the latest “community benefits” report the public health system sent to the IRS to justify its tax-exempt status.
That's up from $165 million in 2022 and $160 million in 2021, according to Lee Health. Lee Health is Lee's leading hospital system with four acute care hospitals, a children's hospital, and numerous outpatient services.
Lee Health is one of the nation's largest public hospital systems in Florida, with an operating budget of $3 billion, but receives no direct taxpayer support. This is despite the fact that it is a “safety net” hospital that cares for all patients regardless of their ability to pay.
more:Lee Health should become a private nonprofit hospital, consultant says.
more:The possibility of Lee Health being taken private has not yet garnered public attention. Will it happen?
Community benefits report comes under fire
Annual community benefits reports, required of all tax-exempt nonprofit hospitals, have drawn criticism from lawmakers for a lack of IRS oversight.
Additionally, the Loan Institute, a healthcare think tank that examines the social responsibility of hospitals, conducted a study on what nonprofit hospitals are returning in community benefits in exchange for tax breaks.
In 2020, Rohn found that of 1,700 nonprofit hospitals, 77% spent less on charity care and community investments than on tax breaks.
The American Hospital Association responded that Lown carefully selects data to “fit preconceptions about hospitals.”
more:Florida HCA ramps up competition for for-profit Lee Health to go public
The AHA says nonprofit hospitals provide $9 in benefits for every tax-free dollar. A 2022 analysis found that tax-exempt hospitals provided more than $110 billion in total benefits to communities in fiscal year 2019, according to the AHA.
According to the U.S. General Accounting Office report, the IRS requires hospitals to review their reports every three years, but there is no clearly defined process for reviewing their reports. It is said that there is a lack of
NCH of Collier County, a private, nonprofit system with two hospitals and a combined 713 beds, will soon complete last year's community benefits report, said spokesman Sean McConnell. .
Why should we care about community interests?
Lee Health's increase in returns comes as the system seeks to transform from a public system to a private nonprofit system to gain leverage over for-profit hospital competitors and private equity firms that invest in health care services. It's happening at the same time.
Lee Health's elected board of directors is expected to decide whether to convert by October.
Even if Lee Health were to convert to nonprofit status, it would still have to report what it gives back to the community, and its board of directors would consider it a safety-net institution that cares for all patients regardless of their ability to pay. The company's long-standing mission remains the same, he said.
Lee Health has 1,865 beds across four acute care hospitals, with 85,000 admissions, 276,000 emergency department visits, and 2.6 million outpatient and physician visits last year, resulting in an annual We serve millions of patients. This system has 15,000 employees.
In a news release about the latest Community Benefits Report, Chief Development Officer Chris Simoneau said Lee Health has an unwavering commitment to providing important health and wellness information to the community. Ta.
“Our presence goes far beyond medicine,” he said. “We are making a significant contribution through our local partnerships with organizations committed to the growth and health of Southwest Florida and by creating a variety of educational programs with the goal of optimal health for all. Masu.”
Learn more about charity care and other community support from Lee Health
Community benefits can provide treatment and promote health, but they are not provided for marketing purposes and are not a cost of doing business.
Lee Health's main categories are:
- $113 million in charity care and $88 million in uncompensated Medicaid totaling $202 million.
- $71 million in community support.
- Total community benefits would be just under $273 million, and after deducting $94 million in unpaid taxes, the amount would be $179 million.
According to Lee Health, community impact highlights include:
- Golisano Children's Hospital's child advocacy teams, including Kids' Minds Matter, have served 58,313 patients and donated $660,812 in community benefits.
- The Lee TeleHealth platform operated 24/7 for free for more than half of the year after Hurricane Ian, serving 2,476 patients and donating $170,844.
- The Lee Health Trauma Center Injury Prevention Team saw 7,832 patients and provided $75,213 in benefits to the community.
- Family medicine and internal medicine residency programs sponsored by the Florida State University College of Medicine have generated a total of $11.9 million in community benefits.
