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Causes: Community Health Systems, Health
Mission: To inspire hope and contribute to health and well-being by providing the best care to every patient through integrated clinical practice, education, and research.
Programs: Patient care (see schedule o)patient care:mayo clinic health system is a family of clinics, hospitals and health care facilities serving communities in minnesota, iowa, wisconsin and georgia. As part of mayo clinic, the health system offers care designed for the whole body close to the patient's home, when they need it. A multidisciplinary team of experts has ready access to knowledge, resources, and expertise of mayo clinic and collaborates on providing exactly the care the patient needs. Mayo clinic health system sites employ approximately 1,000 physicians and 15,000 allied health staff. In addition, mayo clinic physicians from multiple specialties regularly see patients at health system facilities. Besides having health care facilities in nearly 70 communities, mayo clinic health system includes 19 owned hospitals, five owned nursing homes, physician service agreements with one additional hospital, and contract management agreements with two additional hospitals and one nursing home. Since its inception in 1992, mayo clinic health system has grown into one of the most successful regional health care systems in the united states. More than 600,000 unique patients account for more than 2. 6 million visits annually in mayo clinic health system. It is also a national leader in quality and safety effortsmayo clinic health system-albert lea and austin (mchs-al/au) is a minnesota non-profit corporation, tax exempt as an organization described in section 501(c)(3) of the internal revenue code. To justify this tax exempt status, mchs-al/au provides scholarships, charity care, interpreting and educational services, and various other community benefits. Mchs-al/au provides primary care needs, including family medicine, internal medicine, ob/gyn, pediatrics and general surgery. In addition, mchs-al/au also provides specialty care in cardiology, dermatology, neurology, oncology, ophthalmology, optometry, occupational health, physical medicine & rehab, psychiatry, rheumatology, audiology, allergy, orthopedics, ent, psychology, podiatry, physical therapy, wound care, urology, and plastic surgery. In 2014, mchs-al/au had 313,010 clinic visits. Mchs-al/au operates regional clinics in adams, alden, blooming prairie, kiester, leroy, new richland, and wells, minnesota and lake mills, iowa. During 2014, hospital inpatient days totaled 16,374 with 1,633 additional days for newborn care. As part of the mayo clinic health system, mchs-al/au accesses emergency medical helicopter service throughout southern minnesota and northern iowa and receives ambulance services from gold cross. The helicopter provides rapid patient transport to the appropriate health care facility along with delivering high-level critical care. Fountain centers is a mchs-al/au program for substance abuse and addiction; its main campus in albert lea offers residential and outpatient treatment, support and aftercare programs. Currently, fountain centers also offers outpatient programs in austin, fairmont, faribault, mankato, owatonna, rochester and waseca and reaches far outside of mchs-al/au service area to meet chemical dependency treatment needs in southern minnesota. Mchs-al/au operates on a nondiscriminatory basis regardless of race, color, sex, religion or national origin. Mchs-al/au provides a variety of financial assistance options to patients who meet established criteria. Its almcare program allows patients who meet financial guidelines to enroll annually to receive care discounts from 10% to 100%, with a $10 co-pay for prescriptions. Services are also provided to both medicare and medicaid patients at substantial discounts from standard fees. The cost of charity care provided during 2014 was approximately $4,829,000. The cost of uncompensated medicaid for 2014 was approximately $7,535,000. This amount includes the medicaid surcharge of $995,472 and $3,568,122 paid to minnesota care (a program that provides health care for low income populations). The unreimbursed cost of medicare was approximately $9,892,000. Mchs-al/au also leases space and provides support services to affiliated organizations to help further their exempt purpose of providing patient care.
community support (see schedule 0):community support: mchs-al/au is an active member of the community, supporting such community services as senior resources, freeborn county family services collaborative, riverland community college, united way, ymca, area food shelves, numerous youth activities, community development projects and several other health-related organizations. In 2014, mchs-al/au prepared 27,372 meals for meals on wheels, an organization that distributes meals to elderly residents in the communities of albert lea and austin. There are numerous health and wellness education programs, classes and support groups provided to the community throughout the year. These classes/support groups include childbirth education, prenatal breastfeeding education classes, bereavement education support series, cancer support group, diabetes support group, ostomy support group, chemical dependency relapse support group, tobacco cessation services, sports screenings, individual sports conditioning and sports injury evaluations, all at no charge. Mchs-al/au's patient education center provides free blood pressure checks and health resources for the community. 1,570 blood pressure checks were provided in 2014. Located within the front corridor, the center's library area includes easy access for community members to health education and wellness information via staff, brochures, dvds, and use of four public computers. In 2014, 3,800 people were assisted with patient education services. Also located in the patient education center is mchs-al/au's patient advocate. She is a certified senior health insurance program volunteer who facilitates medication assistance for those unable to afford medication prescribed. She also assists medicare participants enrolling in the part d plan. Explaining insurance and clarifying insurance issues are also offered through the patient advocate. With the development of almcare, she works closely with the finance department in educating and following up with uninsured or underinsured patients that are accepted into this program. Free education programs include: - 5 health education programs - 52 health talk radio programs - 3 health symposiums mchs-al/au provides free health assessments and screenings, counseling services, free interpreting services, and space for community meetings and support groups. Mchs-al/au has a home health program in which primarily elderly patients with circulatory, respiratory and other health problems are provided assistance with personal cares and activities of daily living. During 2014, the home health program served 279 patients. Mchs-al/au also provides a hospice for the families of terminal patients. In 2014, 401 families were serviced by this hospice. During 2014, mchs-al/au provided free sports physicals to 457 area student athletes. Mchs-al/au also benefits from community volunteers in its auxiliary, hospice and chemical dependency programs, and as movers at the front information desk. During 2014, volunteers donated approximately 28,346 hours to the medical center. The value of this donated time is approximately $653,900 based on the independent sectors average estimated value of such services. These service hours were primarily spent organizing and managing activities for the benefit of the medical center's patients, patients' families, visitors, and staff. During 2014, mchs-al/au made cash and equipment donations totaling over $374,000 to various charitable and community organizations. Its community involvement program allows staff to volunteer eight hours annually during work time. In 2014, 70 mchs-al/au volunteers provided 389 hours of services to endorsed community programs and projects. The value of this donated time is approximately $18,433.
research (see schedule o):research:mchs-al/au staff work with mayo clinic and mayo clinic health system physician investigators to coordinate clinical research studies with a cms grant. In 2014, mchs-al/au participated in a compass grant to provide care coordination designed to improve the health and well being of patients diagnosed with both depression and a chronic disease in communities they serve.
health professions education (schedule o):health professions education:mchs-al/au sponsors a scholarship program for high school seniors and non-traditional students from the mchs-al/au service area who are entering the healthcare field. In the year ending december 31, 2014, 25 scholarships were awarded totaling $20,495. In addition, mchs-al/au provides meeting space and sponsors various "on-site" education programs including shadowing, preceptorships, and internships. The estimated cost of supervision and space for these programs is $365,500.