Lake Health provides $30M in community benefit

System gives back through programs, services addressing community needs

Lake Health officials announced Feb. 5 that the system provided more than $30 million in community benefit in fiscal year 2019 as part of its mission to provide local access to health care services.

According to a news release, the majority of Lake Health’s investment in the community, more than $26.1 million, covered costs for unreimbursed care. That includes charity care and financial assistance, which totaled more than $300,000, and subsidized care for Medicaid patients, which totaled more than $25.8 million.

In 2019, Lake Health collaborated with the Lake County General Health District to bring together more than 20 community partners to tackle the county’s greatest health needs and social determinants of health.

The broad coalition of health care providers and social service organizations “worked together at identifying the county’s greatest health needs” through the Community Health Needs Assessment.

As a community health care provider, Lake Health gives back through programs and services that address the community’s health and wellness needs, the release stated.

This includes educational programs, such as the Senior Connection Lunch and Learn series, Nutrition and Fitness Education series and the Integrative Health and Wellness series; and free health screenings, such as blood pressure, cholesterol, breast health, skin and prostate cancer.

The health care system also partners with nearly every school district in Lake County to provide athletic training services, health education and internship opportunities, and problembased learning modules for elementary schools, along with on-site health clinics in the Mentor and Willoughby-Eastlake school districts, and Lakeland Community College.

Hospitals are required to report publicly on community benefit activities, which include financial assistance for those in need, in addition to a wide range of programs and services aimed at keeping their communities healthy and productive.

According to Lake Health, the primary categories for assessing community benefit include:

• Cash and in-kind contributions

• Community health improvement

• Financial assistance

• Medicaid shortfall

• Subsidized health services.