Revitalized commitment to community. A community benefit plan helps a hospital be a good neighbor

Three years ago St. John Hospital and Medical Center, Detroit, made a commitment to strengthen its community relationships and reaffirm its mission of serving those in need by following the Catholic Health Association's Social Accountability Budget. While implementing the program, administrators were surprised to learn the hospital was already participating in many community programs for which it received little or no reimbursement. They also discovered that the hospital had no formal, written charity care policy even though St. John provided more than $14 million in uncompensated care annually. To learn what the needs of the surrounding community were, the hospital went to the clergy, who overwhelmingly identified the needs of the elderly as the number-one priority. A close second was supporting the basic family unit. Other concerns included basic family needs, safe neighborhoods and schools, and teen pregnancy. Although the hospital realized it could not do all that was needed, it felt obliged to be a leader in seeing that the needs were met and drew up a community benefit plan that documented the problems and the solutions. The hospital did what it could and worked with other organizations to address needs such as housing for the elderly, affordable and accessible healthcare, neighborhood improvement and safety, and family services.