The Delaware Healthcare Association released a 2022 Community Benefits Report. that showed the impact of Covid-19 on the bottom lines of hospitals that account for more than one in ten jobs in the state.
The report finds that Delaware hospitals and health systems provided nearly $978 million in “community benefit spending” to our communities in Fiscal Year 2020. This includes charity care, bad debt, losses on government-sponsored health insurance and supporting programs benefitting their local communities.
The report also shows the impact of Covid-19 on hospital finances. Delaware hospital operating margin was negative 3.8% for fiscal year 2020 without federal Covid-19 relief. Statewide the Delaware hospital operating margin was just above the break-even point at 0.34% when including federal assistance.
“Regardless of the challenges faced during the Covid-19 pandemic, Delaware hospitals and health systems continued to make significant investments in the health and well-being of all Delawareans,” said Wayne A. Smith, CEO of the Delaware Healthcare Association. “Delaware’s nonprofit hospitals deliver high-quality healthcare services to everyone who walks through our front doors, 24 hours a day and regardless of ability to pay. They also invest millions of dollars in programs and services that reach beyond hospital walls to advance the health of our population and address unmet needs in the community.”
Community Benefit Spending
- – $775.66 million in unpaid costs of patient care, such as charity care ($47.85 million), bad debt ($65.5 million), and unpaid costs from Medicare, Medicaid, and Tricare ($662.29 million)
·- $202.2 million in community benefit services and programs that aim to advance health or address unmet needs in communities.
Community benefit services and programs
The report highlights examples of community benefit programs and initiatives that Delaware hospitals and health systems have developed to improve health in our communities. These initiatives include:
· Ensuring a bright future for everyone through Project SEARCH (Bayhealth);
· Providing access to Covid-19 vaccines via the “Bookmobile” mobile clinic (Beebe Healthcare);
· Reaching the most vulnerable with grants from the Community Investment Fund (ChristianaCare);
· Reducing risk of severe illness through vaccination with the Drive-Thru Flu Clinic (TidalHealth Nanticoke);
· Supporting each child’s health by working with community partners, investing in equity and inclusion, providing school-based health care, and giving back though volunteering (Nemours Children’s Health);
· Fostering partnerships for the public good with the new Healthy Village (Saint Francis Hospital); and,
· Incorporating whole health in veteran care (Wilmington VA Medical Center).
Economic impact
Delaware hospitals spent over $3.9 billion on goods and services from other businesses. These goods and services create additional economic value for the community. With these “ripple effects” included, each hospital job supports about two additional jobs and every dollar spent by a hospital supports $1.60 of additional business activity. The effect of hospital expenditures on total state economic output is over $6.93 billion.
· Hospital Jobs: 22,797
· Average Salary: $86,999
· State and Local Taxes Paid: $68,189,739
· Hospitals support 47,978 jobs in Delaware (10.74% of jobs in the State) and generate $6.9 billion in economic activity
The health systems that provided data for this report include: Bayhealth, Beebe Healthcare, ChristianaCare, TidalHealth Nanticoke, Nemours Children’s Health (Delaware), and Saint Francis Hospital. The Delaware Healthcare Association biennially collects data to quantify total community benefit contributions from all Delaware hospitals.
The report can be found on the DHA website – https://www.deha.org/Reports/Community-Benefits/Documents/Community-Benefit-Report-2022-(2020data)_9-7-22
The Delaware Healthcare Association (DHA) was formed in 1967 and is a statewide trade and membership services organization that represents and serves hospitals, health systems, and related health care organizations.