340B Impact at HSHS St. Francis Hospital
As a safety net hospital, HSHS St. Francis Hospital provides health care for individuals regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay. Safety net hospitals serve a higher number of uninsured, Medicaid, Medicare, Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), low-income, and other vulnerable populations than their non-safety net hospital counterparts. St. Francis Hospital is also a critical access hospital, a federal designation created to help reduce the financial vulnerability of small rural hospitals located more than 35 miles from another hospital.
In FY2018, St. Francis Hospital realized a $188K savings through 340B, which was primarily used to support the hospital's cancer center's provision of comprehensive cancer care, chemotherapy, and non-oncology infusion services, as well as to offset uncompensated care provided to improve the health of the community.
St. Francis Hospital is committed to providing medically necessary care by offering financial assistance for co-pays, deductibles, or medical services for low-income individuals who quality, which totaled $539K in FY2018. The hospital provided community benefit health improvement services for the poor totaling $156K in FY2018; services included a food pantry to address food insecurity in Montgomery County, a local farmers market, a dental voucher program, and free transportation for dental exams.