Media Release

For: Immediate Release
Date: Thursday, December 15, 2005
Contact: Bruce Cryan (401) 222-5123

Health Department Reports on Hospital Community Benefits

Today, the Rhode Island Department of Health (HEALTH) released its annual report “Hospital Community Benefits Report (2004) ” detailing community benefits, including charity care, provided by hospitals in RI. Based on the findings, Rhode Island's hospitals provided $21.5 million in charity care in 2004, an increase from $15.7 million in 2003. For the five years 2000-2004, the highest charity care burdens were incurred at Butler Hospital (2.2%), Memorial Hospital (1.5%), Newport Hospital (1.0%), and RI Hospital (1.0%). HEALTH has examined the issue of community benefits since 1989.

“HEALTH monitors the community benefits provided by hospitals, and part of our commitment to transparency is communicating the results to the public,” said Dr. David Gifford, MD, MPH, Director of the Rhode Island Department of Health. “Hospital community benefits are an important part of Rhode Island’s health safety net, and include charity care, education, and other services necessary to provide safe and adequate treatment, and appropriate hospital access to all residents of the state,” he added.

To provide a more consistent and comprehensive process for uninsured Rhode Islanders to access charity care, HEALTH, working with the hospitals and advocacy groups, has drafted statewide minimum standards for hospital financial aid. The next step in the process is a Public Hearing on the draft regulations scheduled for Wednesday, January 11, 2006 at 3:00 pm at the Health Department. The overall impact of this broad based initiative on charity care will be examined in subsequent editions of this Report.

The “Hospital Community Benefits Report (2004)” is available on HEALTH’s Web site http://www.health.ri.gov/chic/performance/communitybenefits.php

For more information, contact Bruce Cryan at (401) 222-5123.