Health Care Knows No Bounds

It’s not always like it goes down on Grey’s Anatomy or E.R. The reality is that hospitals are a constant frontline resource for the community – both inside our doors and beyond them. They care for the sick and wounded, teach the public about health issues, provide free screenings to prevent disease, foster the education of clinicians, and serve every person in need of medical care, regardless of their ability to pay.

Together, it’s called “community benefit.” It’s a core mission to Meridian Health, which invested more than $88 million into our communities in 2007 by funding essential programs and providing health services to approximately 240,000 people who could not pay for that care or who received subsidized care.

This access to health care is critical, and it’s taken for granted. In fact, the health of our state’s hospitals – and hence our communities – is in jeopardy. Both the federal and state governments have failed to compensate for the true costs of health care among the growing number of uninsured and our state’s charity care patients, as well as those covered under the federal Medicare/Medicaid programs.

Despite these challenges, we continue to provide numerous options to enhance access to care through our Emergency Departments, Family Health Centers, and outreach programs – and we’re working with health care organizations across the state to urge our government to support us in these efforts.