HomeNewsOrange City Area Health System Provides Community Benefit

Orange City Area Health System Provides Community Benefit

$1.2 million in Uncompensated Care and Health Care Services Given Annually
 
Orange City Area Health System provides over $1.2 million in community benefits to the region, according to a recently completed assessment of those programs and services.  That amount, based on 2011 figures, includes over $700,000 in uncompensated care and nearly $510,000 in free or discounted community benefits that Orange City Area Health System specifically implemented to help residents in Northwest Iowa and the region.

Community benefits are activities designed to improve health status and increase access to health care. Along with uncompensated care (which includes both charity care and bad debt), community benefits include such services and programs as health screenings, support groups, counseling, immunizations, nutritional services and transportation programs.

The results for Orange City Area Health System are included in a statewide report by the Iowa Hospital Association (IHA) that shows Iowa hospitals provided community benefits in 2011 valued at more than $1.4 billion, including nearly $600 million in charity care.  All 118 of Iowa’s community hospitals participated in the survey.

The programs and services accounted for in the survey were implemented in direct response to the needs of individual communities as well as entire counties and regions.  Many of these programs and services simply would not exist without hospital support and leadership, said IHA President and CEO Kirk Norris.

“It takes more than a pretty building to take care of folks,” reports Marty Guthmiller, CEO for Orange City Area Health System. “We are blessed to have competent, caring physicians and staff that enable us, financially and clinically, to care for those in need regardless of their ability to pay.  It is both an obligation and a privilege.”

Iowa hospitals continue to implement strategies that increase value to their patients and communities by offering high-quality care to individuals, addressing the health needs of identified populations and implementing process improvements that bend the cost curve.  By seeking out ways to raise quality, reduce waste and increase safety, Iowa hospitals have become value leaders, as shown in multiple studies by the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care and the Commonwealth Fund.

More information about Orange City Area Health System and the services offered can be found at ocHealthSystem.org.