Tomah Health is among Wisconsin hospitals and health care systems that provided nearly $2 billion in community benefits in fiscal year 2021. The figure is part of the recently released Wisconsin Hospital Association’s (WHA) 2022 Community Benefits Report that highlighted programs, services and activities across the state that hospitals contributed free, as well as the financial assistance they provided to patients.
Tomah Health chief financial officer Joe Zeps said the local health care facility provided approximately $5 million in community needs this past year. “Tomah Health is committed to giving back to the communities that we serve,” Zeps said. “We know that a great deal of the success that we experience here at the hospital is due to the support of the community and we are excited to be able to demonstrate how we can pay that back to the communities that we serve.”
Zeps said the benefit figure is a direct result of work by hospital staff throughout the year. “Staff should take great pride in the investments the hospital makes in taking care of the community, particularly within the context of how COVID has affected our industry over the last two years,” said Zeps.
READ A TOMAH HEALTH BENEFIT, HERE
The report segmented the state into seven different regions. The western region, which included Monroe, LaCrosse, Jackson, Trempealeau, Adams and Crawford counties recorded $167,812,322 in total community benefits for 2021.
SEE THE WESTERN REGION REPORTS, HERE
WHA officials said the report details the many ways Wisconsin’s nonprofit hospitals and health systems care for their communities beyond patient care, often at a financial loss. “As vital members of the communities we serve, the release of this important report underscores that the services provided by Wisconsin hospitals don’t stop at simply patient care,” said WHA President and CEO Eric Borgerding. “The 2022 Community Benefit Report offers an important reminder that hospitals continue to be there for people when no one else is. Even when a service loses money or generates no revenue at all, or when hospitals lose hundreds of millions of dollars taking care of Medicaid patients, the uninsured and those no one else will help. Wisconsin hospitals and health systems consistently step up to the plate and offer crucial services in their communities every minute of every hour of every day,” Borgerding said.
In 2013, under a new requirement of the Affordable Care Act, hospitals were required to complete a formal community health needs assessment in partnership with public health and other community partners to assess, address and prioritize community health needs.
The annual report also quantified a number of services and community contributions provided by Wisconsin hospital and health systems, spanning from charity care, subsidized health services, community health improvement services and other expenditures.
In addition to the printed Community Benefits Report, WHA offers an interactive version of the report so that stakeholders can view ways hospitals and health systems are enhancing the quality of life in Wisconsin.
SEE THE REPORT, HERE