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St. Luke’s Reports Value of Services Provided to Community
St. Luke’s recently filed community benefit reports for Ada, Twin Falls and Canyon counties for the fiscal year 2017.
These reports help to validate St. Luke’s not-for-profit mission, which is to improve the health of the people in the Idaho communities it serves.
Here are a few of the highlights from each report.
Ada County
St. Luke’s provided more than $52 million in unreimbursed services, including charity care and bad debt, at cost.
The cost of under-reimbursed services, including services provided to patients covered by Medicare, Medicaid, County Indigency and other government programs, totaled more than $251 million.
The total unreimbursed value of “community benefit” services exceeded $42 million. Some examples of those services:
- More than $14 million was invested in the education of health professionals. A growing challenge for Idaho community hospitals is the shortage of qualified nurses, pharmacists, technicians, physicians and other healthcare professionals. St. Luke’s addressed this challenge by investing in various programs and projects, including scholarships for students, support for faculty positions at Idaho universities and investment in capital projects at Idaho universities that provide facilities for the education of future medical professionals.
- More than $4 million was invested in community health improvement services. Examples of these services include free community health screenings, FitOne and detoxification and crisis mental health services through Allumbaugh House.
- More than $13.8 million went toward subsidized health services. Examples of this include the training and education programs for Air St. Luke’s, women’s and children’s community education and high school sports medicine services.
Twin Falls County
The total amount of charity care and bad debt, at cost, exceeded $25 million.
The cost of under-reimbursed services provided totaled more than $70 million.
The total unreimbursed value of “community benefit” services exceeded $12 million. Some examples of those services in Twin Falls County:
- Almost $5 million went to the education of health professionals.
- More than $850,000 went toward community health improvement services, including free community cancer screenings, health fairs and injury-prevention programs, among many others.
- Almost $6 million went to local health clinics and programs. The 2017 St. Luke’s Magic Valley Community Health Improvement Fund awarded funds to 30 different organizations.
Canyon County
The total amount of charity care and bad debt, at cost, exceeded $4.8 million.
The cost of under-reimbursed services provided totaled more than $22 million.
The total unreimbursed value of “community benefit” services exceeded $1.6 million. Some examples of those services in Canyon County:
- More than $600,000 went toward the education of health professionals.
- Almost $90,000 went to community health improvement services, including birth and parenting classes, outreach services to rural healthcare providers through Rural Connection and free community cancer screenings.
- More than $160,000 was invested in medical research, including clinical trials that benefit both adults and children.
Additions to Capital
Systemwide, almost $160 million went to expenditures for land, facilities, equipment and other capital supporting St. Luke’s mission.
- More than $81 million was spent in fiscal year 2017 on the development of the St. Luke’s Nampa Campus.
- More than $20 million was invested for architectural, planning and project costs related to the Downtown Boise Campus Development.
- More than $20 million was invested in the Electronic Medical Record system. St. Luke’s estimates the total cost of the project will be approximately $139 million. The new system ensures patients who come to St. Luke’s for care – and the physicians and clinicians who care for them – have access to the patient’s medical information in one location. This improves efficiencies and, most importantly, improves safety and quality for patients.
About The Author
Chris Langrill is a writer and copy editor for the St. Luke’s Communications and Marketing department.
