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News Release

Media Contact:

Christina Chavira
Communications Specialist
530.332.5589 office; 530.588.4411 cell
christina.chavira@enloe.org

Enloe provides community benefit valued at
$95.6 million in 2011

CHICO, Calif., Feb. 10, 2012 – Community benefit provided by Enloe Medical Center in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2011 is valued at $95.6 million, an increase of 23 percent compared with 2010. The data is detailed in the 2011 Community Benefits Report that Enloe recently submitted to the state of California, as required of non-profit hospitals in our state.

The growth in the community benefit largely comes from an increase in the amount of uncompensated care provided – both charity care and “bad debt” from uncollectible accounts for patient services provided at the medical center. Charity care grew by more than 66 percent, from $2.9 million in 2010 to $4.7 million in 2011. Bad debt from uncollectible accounts also increased substantially, from $4.8 million in 2010 to $6.0 million in 2011. The cost of uncompensated care for 2011 represented approximately 1.5 percent of Enloe’s total operating expenses.

Enloe provides health care to patients regardless of their ability to pay. The medical center’s community service and discount programs provide free care, known as charity care, for the uninsured based on eligibility guidelines that consider family income and size, and other discounts for uninsured patients, on a sliding scale basis. Insured and underinsured patients can also be eligible for charity care, which can help cover a balance after insurance is paid. For example, an uninsured family of four earning under $55,000 qualifies for free care after a $100 co-pay; and families of four making from $55,000 to $100,000 will qualify for a discount based on their income and the Medicare fee schedule, which is a listing of fees used by Medicare to reimburse health care providers. Enloe writes off any portion over the amount that Medicare would pay. Bad debt is the amount of the patients’ portion of the hospital bill that they are expected to pay but were unable to pay, did not apply for charity care, or were unwilling to pay.

Another significant community benefit contribution was the difference between Enloe’s cost of providing care and the payments received from Medicare and Medi-Cal for this care. Our community has a significant number of residents who use Medicare and Medi-Cal for health care coverage. The state and federal government’s payments to Enloe for these programs were $31.7 million and $49.3 million below actual costs of providing care, respectively. This shortfall accounted for approximately 8.9 percent of Enloe’s total operating expenses.

More than $2.4 million was spent on community education and service. Enloe’s outreach efforts address the community’s health needs, identified every three years in a community health needs assessment. Outreach includes such services as free diabetes and heart health education, free screenings and immunizations, and support of community events with local partners, such as the Growing Healthy Children Fun Walk/Run, the Drop the Drugs Campaign, Chico Bike Week, Chico Relay for Life, Community Senior Health fairs and events, among others. Additionally, the total includes $1.4 million spent on subsidized health services.

Several other benefits are detailed in the report. For example, Enloe provided 24,953 teaching hours for 3,483 students earning their degrees in the therapies, nursing, emergency services and other health-related fields. Enloe also reinvested $50.2 million in facilities and equipment, including a new open Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) system, a New Computed Tomography (CT) imaging equipment, new information technology systems and construction costs. Enloe gave nearly 1,000 taxi vouchers to community members upon discharge. The report also provides numbers for patient visits, doctors recruited to the area, ongoing professional education provided and community partnerships.

The full 2011 Community Benefits Report can be found online on www.enloe.org/cbreport.

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Enloe Medical Center is a local, nonprofit health care organization. For more information, please call 530/332-7300 or visit us online at http://www.enloe.org.   Enloe Medical Center is located at 1531 Esplanade Chico, Calif.  95926.