Valley Health "Community Benefit" trend from 2004 - 2007

Did anyone read with much interest the pamphlet that Valley Health mailed out in the fall of 2008, THE BIG PICTURE,  2007 Benefit to the Community?

Valley Health described this trend as follows:

Valley Health gives back to the community in many ways.  Two important areas are charity care and bad debt allowances.  These two items grew 9.2% last year and up 19% over two years.  The health system’s total community contribution also includes losses from providing care to patients covered by two government programs: Medicare and Medicaid.  In 2007, Valley Health’s total community contribution topped $56 million, an increase of 18.3% over 2006 and a jump of nearly 47% since 2005.

Valley Health is also an important economic presence in the region, paying salaries to over 4,500 employees, and purchasing millions of dollars worth of goods and services from local vendors.  Looking at the big picture, Valley Health is proud to contribute to the health and vitality of the communities we serve.

	2005	2006	2007	06-07 Diff
Charity Care	14,263,146	17,285,000	18,902,225	9.4%
Other Means-Tested Programs	8,312,991	8,551,185	10,773,161	26%
Other Contributions	2,909,717	1,722,880	1,357,696	-21.2%
Bad Debt	16,314,400	16,105,313	17,569,553	8.1%
Medicare Shortfall (- is a gain)	-3,899,411	3,058,887	6,635,781	117%
Community Building Activities	267,303	693,253	832,910	20.1%
Total Community Benefit :	38,168,146	47,416,518	56,071,326	18.3%

For what Valley Health has done for the community from 2005 through 2007 is a reasonable and generous trend.  But when some more in-depth research was conducted, something much more epic took place in 2004.  The new revised Valley Community Benefit trend chart for years 2004 - 2007 below speaks for itself.


For the record, the question marks (???) below for 2004 and the profit for 2005, a request has been sent for an explanation and will be posted as soon as it's been received.

	2004	2005	2006	2007
Charity Care	21,600,000	14,263,146	17,285,000	18,902,225
Other Means-Tested Programs	???	8,312,991	8,551,185	10,773,161
Other Contributions	???	2,909,717	1,722,880	1,357,696
Bad Debt	???	16,314,400	16,105,313	17,569,553
Medicare Shortfall (- is a gain)	14,486,000	-3,899,411	3,058,887	6,635,781
Community Building Activities	???	267,303	693,253	832,910
Total Community Benefit :	59,000,000	38,168,146	47,416,518	56,071,326

Source:
-Valley Health's pamphlet, THE BIG PICTURE, 2007 Benefit to the Community