“There needs to be a paradigm shift,” Saini said. “What we need from hospitals in the 21st century is different from how we used to do things. Our goal with this is to ask a series of questions, ask everybody … to examine the question: how we should be doing this? Because the way we’re doing it, is not really meeting the needs of communities.” More
“We’re starting to see policymakers and communities hold hospitals accountable for their social responsibility,” said Dr. Vikas Saini, president of the Lown Institute, said during a webinar Tuesday about the report. “For example, state and local officials in Atlanta and the Georgia NAACP recently filed a federal complaint against Wellstar Health System for closing two hospitals known for serving the Black community while planning to open a new hospital in a whiter and wealthier area.” More
"Americans desperately need hospitals to use their billions in tax breaks as intended: to promote health while relieving the problems of medical debt and access to care," said Dr. Vikas Saini, president of the Lown Institute. "These are charitable organizations and they should do a better job at prioritizing social responsibility over profitability." More
"The paradigm we've been operating in for the last 30, 40, 50 years is kind of broken, and I don't think you have to ask too many doctors or nurses before you get a lot of consensus on that point," Saini told MedPage Today. "We're asking people to start thinking, 'What could this look like that would be different, that's truly beneficial to the community?'" More
Lown Institute, a nonpartisan healthcare think tank, released a new report April 11 examining the finances of 1,773 nonprofit hospitals in the U.S. The report — which does not include large health systems like Renton, Wash.-based Providence; Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente; Somerville, Mass.-based Mass General Brigham; Cleveland Clinic; and Detroit-based Henry Ford — found that some hospitals fell short on and others exceeded expected investments in their communities. More
“The major disconnect between the real health needs of communities and how the money flows is the fundamental problem,” said Vikas Saini, M.D., president of the Lown Institute. “And the nonprofit tax exemption is a lens on that problem.” More
Lown found that 77% of the reviewed hospitals spent less on community investments and charity care than the estimated value of their tax breaks. The group wrote that many facilities that had the largest deficit “also received millions in COVID-19 relief funding and ended the year with high net incomes.” More
Nonprofit hospitals receive substantial tax breaks worth tens of billions each year. But how many hospitals actually give back to communities as much as they receive in tax benefits? More
A new report examining the finances of 1,763 nonprofit hospitals in the United States finds that more than three-quarters fall short on expected investments in their communities. More
When your choice is your health or your home, which do you pick? More
Samantha Goveia is a current Master of Public Health candidate at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice and the Lown Institute’s newest public health intern. We asked Samantha to share with us her journey to public health. This is her story. More
Recently, egregious, profit-seeking behaviors of nonprofit hospitals have been spotlighted in investigations and reports by The New York Times, Axios, the documentary film inHospitable, issue advocacy organizations such as Innovation for Justice, the Lown Institute and many others. More
Ten percent of Americans owe medical debt. According to a new report, much of that debt is owed to hospitals. What does this tell us about billing practices, financial assistance, and the balance between patients and profits in our current hospital systems? More
The nonprofit health system recently closed its most inclusive hospitals. Now, policymakers and advocates are requesting a federal investigation... More
An ongoing lawsuit focusing on the FDA's approval of the abortion pill mifepristone could open the door to drug regulatory chaos. More
Tower Health’s trio of Chester County hospitals — Phoenixville, Brandywine, and Jennersville — lost their tax-exempt status due to the excessive salaries of the company’s executives, writes Judith Garber for the Lown Institute. The Pennsylvania appellate court recently denied property tax exemptions for these hospitals. Jennersville Hospital has already been sold to another system, while Brandywine Hospital closed in January 2022. More
Lown Institute experts explore why routine colonoscopy is recommended in the US but not in other countries. More
The Lown Institute has launched a new blog series spotlighting socially responsible hospitals across the nation. For the inaugural piece, the spotlight is on Denver Health. More
Hospitals have recently come under the spotlight for high prices and inadequate community benefit spending-- and now state policymakers are taking action. Here's an update on what's going on in the state hospital policy space. More
A recent report revealed a plurality of hospital board members come from the Financial sector. How does this impact hospital community benefit spending and social responsibility? More