Friends of Silver Cross

Silver Cross Hospital Commits $40 Million to Charity Care To Serve Will County’s Poor and Uninsured

Big news for ALL Will County families....

Silver Cross Hospital said today that it is making an unprecedented $40 million charity care commitment over 10 years to serve the poor and uninsured in Will County. This means that everyone that walks through the hospital doors can rest assured they will receive quality health care, even if they can’t afford to pay.

This is the first time any hospital in the state has made a commitment of this size. It comes after working with the Healthy Community Commission, chaired by Will County Board Member Margie Woods, made up of Joliet and Will County civic and community leaders.

Margie Woods said, “This is a new day in health care for Joliet and all of Will County as Silver Cross continues to deepen its commitment to the community in a very big, important way. Silver Cross is assuring our community that everyone, regardless of their ability to pay, will have access to quality health care at the replacement hospital.”

Quality Health Care for All

The hospital is committing to at least $4 million a year for ten years in charity care. This number reflects the cost of health care provided with no expectation of payment. It does not include shortfalls in payments from the state Medicaid program for the poor. Hospital costs are only partially covered by Medicaid. Combined with Medicaid shortfalls, Silver Cross projects that the total will exceed $11 million annually by the time the replacement hospital opens.

“As a not-for-profit health care provider and the safety net hospital in Will County, we take seriously our duty and responsibility to our patients and the community,” said Paul Pawlak, president and CEO of Silver Cross Hospital. “Every patient will receive the same high quality care for which Silver Cross has been recognized as a Thomson Top 100 hospital for four consecutive years.”

Last month, Silver Cross became the only Illinois hospital to have been awarded Thomson Top 100 status four straight years. It has applied for approval to the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board to build a new replacement hospital 3.5 miles from its current campus on Route 6 in New Lenox.

Continuing Commitment

Silver Cross has long served as Will County’s health care safety net. More Medicaid patients are seen at Silver Cross than at any other hospital in the region. Half of the hospital’s emergency room patients and 27 percent of the hospital’s inpatients are poor and covered by Medicaid or are uninsured.

In addition to charity care, the hospital has a comprehensive outreach plan for community benefit, which includes health education, screenings, donations, language assistance and other subsidized health services. In 2007, the total value of Silver Cross Hospital’s community benefit was over $17 million at cost.

Silver Cross leaders said their facility is aging and costs are rising just to keep the plant functioning-as much as $5 million more a year to maintain.

“The millions saved annually in maintenance costs of our aging facility, will allow us to make this kind of commitment to charity care,” says Pawlak. “By doing so, we can ensure that everyone has access to the new state-of-the-art hospital.”

Help Silver Cross build on its commitment to the community by supporting its plans to build a replacement hospital which will provide more services, state-of-the-art technology and better access to all families.