Tomah Health is among Wisconsin hospitals and health care systems that provided nearly $1.9 billion in community benefits in fiscal year 2020. The figure is part of the recently released Wisconsin Hospital Association’s (WHA) 2021 Community Benefits Report that details the ways hospitals and health systems in Wisconsin cared for their neighbors over and above patient care, even in the face of a global pandemic.
“The challenges COVID-19 has caused throughout the state’s entire health care system over the past 20 months have only motivated hospitals and health systems across Wisconsin to reaffirm their commitments to the communities they serve in innumerable ways, as the 2021 Community Benefits Report attests,” said Wisconsin Hospital Association President and CEO Eric Borgerding.
He said Wisconsin hospitals filled a vital role during COVID. “In response to the pandemic, Wisconsin hospitals have gone well beyond their walls to take up basic government and public health tasks, like community virus testing and vaccine administration. They are also having to fill growing gaps in non-hospital care, such as becoming de-facto nursing homes for the hundreds of dischargeable patients nursing home are not accepting. They do all this and much more, while continuing to respond to community emergencies, treat and heal serious disease, attend to accident victims and, of course, welcome new babies into the world,” Borgerding said.
Tomah Health chief financial officer Joe Zeps said the local health care facility provided approximately $5.7 million in community needs this past year. “Tomah Health sincerely appreciates the support we receive from the community, and we’re proud to demonstrate our commitment to giving back to the communities we serve,” Zeps said.
He added that the latest figure is approximately $800,000 lower than the figure recorded a year ago, primarily due to several funding opportunities made available to help offset the costs associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. “Absent the federal and state aid the hospital received to help offset COVID-related costs, the 2021 figure would have been much closer to the $6.6 million reported last year,” Zeps said. “Tomah Health staff should once again take great pride in the investments that we make in taking care of the community, particularly given the added stress of COVID over the last 20 months.”
For Local Benefits, CLICK HERE
Zeps said that the WHA report does an “outstanding job of demonstrating the important role that Wisconsin hospitals play in supporting health and wellness across the state.” The report also documented how Wisconsin hospitals and health systems added vitality to their communities by educating patients and their caregivers on health-related topics, raising awareness of injury- and disease-prevention practices and helping to meet the nutritional needs of disadvantaged children and families. Included in WHA 2021 Community Benefits Report are individual hospital stories related to charity care, COVID-19 efforts, health equity and hospital-supported initiatives.
To Read the Report, CLICK HERE