Advocate Sherman Hospital

Programs: Form 990, part iii, line 4a providing inpatient and outpatient health care services to the community regardless of the patients' ability to pay. As part of its community benefits strategy and its mission, advocate sherman hospital (ash) is committed to promoting initiatives that enhance access to health care for the uninsured and underinsured. An example of this is the hospital's provision of charity care. Ash offers a very generous charity care program--requiring no payments from the patients most in need, and providing discounts to uninsured patients earning up to six times the federal poverty level and to insured patients earning up to four times the federal poverty level. The hospital also considers a patient's extenuating circumstances to qualify patients for charity care. For uninsured patients, the hospital will presumptively provide charity care if the financial status has been verified by a third party and, in some cases, the patient is not required to submit a separate charity application. If presumptive criteria is not available for uninsured patients, then financial assistance eligibility is available using an income-based screening. Ash extends its income-based financial assistance policy to its insured patients as well, also taking into considertion the insured patient's extenuating circumstances. Although the hospital's charity care policy is very generous, ash continues to review and refine its policy in an ongoing effort to ensure that financial assistance is available when they need it to those who need help. The hospital maintains highly visible signage and brochures in multiple languages to inform patients of the availability of financial help and financial counselors. Information about the charity care program and charity applications is provided to all uninsured patients during registration and is mailed to them in advance of the first patient billing. After that, each uninsured patient's bill includes summary information regarding the charity care program. Ash, as a level ii trauma center, is dedicated to providing expert emergency care regardless of the patients' ability to pay. The hospital had 473 trauma visits and 64,241 emergency department visits in 2014.

form 990, part iii, line 4b health care services provided by physicians, nurses, clinicians and other associates employed by advocate sherman hospital. Ash clinicians provide care to the community both at the hospital and in the community. Advocate sherman hospital has more than 30 years of cardiovascular excellence focusing on proactively preventing, diagnosing and treating an array of heart conditions. As an accredited chest pain center through the society of cardiovascular patient care, advocate sherman hospital is dedicated to the care of its cardiac patients. This accreditation means that ash integrates the industry's best practices to provide the best possible outcomes in cardiac care. Sherman's heart failure program has achieved advanced certification in heart failure designation for best practices in caring for heart failure patients. In 2014, ash experienced 737 inpatient cardiac cath cases and 653 inpatient cardiovascular surgeries. Advocate sherman hospital is recognized as a center of excellence in treating diseases and injuries of muscles, bones and joints and is a leader in state-of-the-art orthopedic diagnostic and treatment options. Depending on the injury or illness, treatment can range from non-surgical options such as casts, splints and physical therapy to surgical options, from minimally invasive arthroscopy to total joint replacement. In 2014, advocate sherman hospital performed 1,319 inpatient orthopedic surgeries. Advocate sherman hospital's cancer care center is accredited through the commission on cancer (coc) and the national accreditation program for breast centers (napbc). Ash is leading health by promoting healthy lifestyles, focusing on preventative and innovative medicine, establishing a comprehensive genetic program, securing nurse navigation, enhancing the oncology service line (inpatient, outpatient & community), partnering with american cancer society, living well, and journey care and participating in a coleman grant for supportive oncology and nci/yale grant for distress screening. There is also a focus on new education and prevention programs including colorectal cancer outreach & screenings, lung cancer screening, enhancements to genetic counseling, addition of oncology nurse navigation resource and oncology financial navigator, and partnership with advocate lutheran general hospital for research/clinical trials. Advocate sherman hospital's primary stroke center is accredited through dnv healthcare (dnv). The scope of the program encompasses the adult population entering into the hospital with hemorrhagic/ischemic stroke or tia diagnosis. Data is abstracted, submitted and reported through the get with the guidelines stroke data registry and also the center for medicare & medicaid services. Other important hospital-based services include a comprehensive diabetes center, a birthing center proficient in handling high risk deliveries, and an emergency department and level ii trauma center. Hospital clinicians also provide care to patients at several off-site locations including three immediate care centers for imaging, laboratory, physical rehabilitation and primary care services, as well as services provided at a nursing/rehabilitation center and a stand alone imaging center. Ash clinicians lead prenatal/childbirth and parenting education classes, diabetes education classes, as well as support groups focused on individuals struggling with health issues such as diabetes, heart disease, breast and other cancers, ostomies, and breast feeding. As part of the hospital's speaker's bureau, clinicians also participate in community health events, providing education on various topics of interest to the community such as trauma/injury prevention, and health and wellness classes.

form 990, part iii, line 4c description of advocate sherman hospital advocate sherman hospital is a 255-bed not-for-profit hospital that provides acute inpatient and outpatient medical care to individuals residing in the greater elgin, illinois, area. Founded in 1888, the hospital has expanded its services to several off-site locations, including three immediate care centers, a nursing/rehabilitation center and a stand alone imaging center. At all these sites of care, sherman's 650 physicians and 2,200 associates (employees) provide quality and compassionate care to individuals regardless of their ability to pay for services received. The hospital moved to its current location on randall road following completion of a new hospital building in december 2009. Ash joined the advocate system in 2013 and became the eleventh hospital in the advocate health care network. Ash has been recognized for its commitment to continually improving performance and patient care as demonstrated through its achievement of several awards. Considered the national "gold standard" for nursing excellence among hospitals, the hospital has received magnet recognition by the american nurses credentialing center, an affiliate of the american nurses association. Magnet recognition is given only to hospitals that satisfy a set of criteria designed to measure strength and quality in nursing care--for which less than seven percent of hospitals nation-wide have achieved this status. In addition, ash has received a 2011 silver award from the lincoln foundation for performance excellence for improving performance through best practices and its care delivery system. The center for breast care at advocate sherman hospital is designated as a breast imaging center of excellence by the american college of radiology for its dedication to improving women's health. The hospital is also an accredited chest pain center, which means the hospital integrates the industry's best practices and newest paradigms to provide the best possible outcomes in cardiac care. The hospital's stroke center is certified by the joint commission. The hospital has implemented code bat (brain attack team), a rapid response team of trained clinicians to ensure stroke patients receive timely and expert care. Early medical intervention is critical to limiting brain damage and improves outcomes for many stroke victims. The hospital's heart failure program received gold level recognition from the american heart association's "get with the guidelines-heart failure program" for commitment to improving quality care. The hospital has also received platinum recognition from the american college of cardiology/american heart association for its cardiac outcomes over four consecutive quarters. Advocate sherman hospital's healthcare providers are engaged in ongoing efforts focused on quality improvement initiatives. These providers use evidence-based practices as an approach to improve quality while reducing unnecessary variation in practice, unnecessary cost and unnecessary hospitalization. These efforts are designed to maintain and enhance patient, staff and visitor safety and to improve the environment of care. Ash was one of the first community hospitals to perform open-heart surgery-a signficiant achievement for a community hospital in 1972. Since then, the hospital has become the recognized regional heart center for the northwest suburbs, ranking third in the chicagoland area in patient volumes for open-heart surgery. With a team of nearly 50 cardiologists, ash has over 35 years of exerience with open heart procedures and all forms of cardiac care. In addition to a wide range of cardiovascular services, the hospital is also an accredited chest pain center with dedicated interventional cardiologists, and cardiology and emergency personnel trained in rapid response and treatment of heart attacks, which helps ensure reduced heart muscle damage and saves lives. The hospital's center for cancer care offers the latest cancer treatments and state-of-the-art technology in an environment custom-designed for healing and compassionate care. The center for advanced liver & pancreatic care provides patients with access to specialized care for the treatment of a wide range of liver and pancreatic diseases that typically have only been treated at academic medical centers. Ash also provides community outreach through health fairs, wellness programs and other services in support of its mvp (mission, values and philosophy). The mission of advocate sherman hospital is to serve the health needs of individuals, families and communities through a wholistic philosophy rooted in the fundamental understanding of human beings as created in the image of god. The values of advocate sherman hospital include equality, compassion, excellence, partnership, and stewardship. The philosophy of advocate sherman hospital is grounded in the principles of human ecology, faith and community-based health care. These principles arise from an understanding of human beings as whole persons in light of their relationships with god, themselves, their families and the society in which they live. Population served advocate sherman hospital provides quality health care to individuals regardless of race, creed, national origin, age or ability to pay. In 2014, the hospital's 650 physicians and 2,200 associates (employees) treated 15,077 inpatient admissions including 2,740 deliveries, and handled 193,423 outpatient visits on the hospital campus and 104,111 to offsite immediate care centsers and one imaging center. As a level ii trauma center, ash had 473 trauma visits and 64,261 emergency department visits in 2014. Advocate sherman hospital serves a primary service area (psa) including 295,700 people who reside in the communities of algonquin, carpentersville, dundee, elgin, gilberts, huntley, lake in the hills, and south elgin. The hospital serves a secondary service area (ssa) including 76,000 people who reside in crystal lake, hampshire and marengo. The psa and ssa communities are in primarily suburban areas, located 45-60 minutes west of downtown chicago. The percent of the population living below the federal poverty level was 9. 0 % for the psa and 7. 1% for the ssa, compared to 13. 7% for the state in 2014. There are several communities in the sherman psa which are financially challenged, with a higher percentage living below poverty than the state, including carpentersville with 16. 1% of the population living below poverty, and east elgin at 15. 1%. The 2015 median household income is $73,884 for the psa and $79,144 for the ssa. The psa has a high portion of the population with latino ancestry (28. 9%) as compared to the ssa (12. 8%) and the us (17. 6%). Both the psa and the ssa have low rates of population with african american ancestry (4. 6% and 1. 2%, respectively). Commitment to the community even in the face of low reimbursements, advocate sherman hospital is dedicated to maintaining a strong presence within its community and continues to monitor expenditures to make certain that the programs and services supported are in direct response to community need. In 2014, ash provided over $50. 2 million in community benefit programs and services. These benefits included not only the cost of charity care and unreimbursed medicaid and medicare, for example, but also the cost for implementing and sustaining programs specifically designed to meet the health care needs of the community. Community benefits plan, goals & examples of program service accomplishments as one of eleven advocate health care hospitals, advocate sherman hospital's community benefits efforts are aligned with advocate health care's community benefits plan. The community benefits plan was developed to establish strategies for improving access to care and positively affecting the health of the communities served by the hospital. Included in the community benefits plan are not only planned goals and objectives focused on addressing needs as identified through a hospital-specific community health needs assessment, but also other community benefits such as charity care, unreimbursed medicaid and medicare. The community benefits plan sets the course for strengthening existing partnerships and building new ones with individuals and organizations within sherman's service area in order to leverage and maximize the impact of its programs. Ash has set goals and objectives to accomplish this strategy. The goals and some corresponding examples of services ash offers are provided below. Goal 1: undertake or support initiatives that enhance access to health and wellness services within the diverse communities advocate health care serves. Charity care - advocate sherman hospital offers a very generous charity care program - requiring no payments from the patients most in need, and providing discounts to uninsured patients earning up to six times the federal poverty level and to insured patients earning up to