OHA and our member hospitals collaborate to support communities by responding to community-specific needs. All hospitals conduct and publish community health needs assessments every three years. Hospitals collaborate with public health agencies, local nonprofits, health care providers and public officials to conduct assessments.

Nonprofit hospitals measure the impact of community benefit programs and report annually to the IRS on Form 990, Schedule H. The Catholic Health Association publishes standards for community benefit definition.

Hospitals carefully measure:

• Charity care — Hospitals provide health care for which no payment is expected.
• Community benefit activities — Hospitals respond to a demonstrated health-related community need and seek to improve access to health service, enhance public health, advance wellness knowledge or provide free or discounted care.
• Medicaid loss — Hospitals are reimbursed for services provided to Medicaid beneficiaries at a rate less than the cost to provide the care.

Those totals are reduced by supplemental payments the federal government provides for hospitals that serve a disproportionate share of Medicare or Medicaid patients in their communities. These are referred to as disproportional share hospital payments, or DSH, payments.

2024 Statewide Community Benefit Report