Community Benefit Definition

Community benefits are programs or activities that provide treatment and/or promote health and healing as a response to identified community needs and meet at least one of the following criteria:

• Generates low or negative margin
• Responds to needs of special populations, such as persons living in poverty and other underserved populations
• Supplies services or programs that would likely be discounted - or would need to be provided by another not-for-profit or government provider - if the decision were made purely on a financial basis
• Responds to public health needs
• Involves education or research that improves overall community health

SHSSR community benefit programs work collaboratively with others in the community to address specific community health needs and improve the overall well-being of the community. The programs include services for persons who face barriers accessing health care and initiatives to help peopleget healthy and stay healthy.

Providing community benefits demonstrates that our not-for-profit health
care network is fulfilling its mission of community service and meeting itscharitable tax-exempt purpose as a community benefit organization.

Needs Assessment

SHSSR participates in a collaborative needs assessment process every three years to help target areas of need within the communities served. Results from the needs assessment assist SHSSR with identifying areas of focus and are utilized to draft a three-year plan to address identified needs. The 2005 assessment, which incorporated primary and secondary data is also intended as a resource to others for community planning processes.

Collaborative partners include:

• Kaiser Permanente
• Marshall Medical Center
• Mercy/Catholic Healthcare West
• Sutter Health Sacramento Sierra Region
• UC Davis Health System

Community Benefit Plan

The Community Benefit Plan is developed by local community advisory boards with expertise and knowledge. The Community Benefit Plan provides a framework for the organization to strategically deliver programs and services to those that need them the most and includes an evaluation component to ensure the organization is meeting its goals. The 2005-2007 plan was submitted to the State of California in June 2005. This 2007 Community Benefit Report highlights some of our successes.

Community Benefit Value

The community benefit value for SHSSR is calculated in two categories; Benefits for the Poor and Underserved and Benefits for the Broader Community. Below are definitions for each community
benefit activity:

Benefits to the Poor and Underserved

Traditional Charity Care • Free or discounted health care services provided to the uninsured and underinsured populations.

Unreimbursed Costs of Medi-Cal • The "shortfall" created when the facility receives payments below the costs of treating public beneficiaries.

Benefits for the Broader Community

Non-Billed Services • Activities with no individual patient bill, therefore no deduction from revenue is shown in the traditional statement of revenues and expenses.

Cash Donations and In-Kind Donations • Dollars and other items such as staff time and supplies donated by a facility to a community-based program or agency.

Education • All community, patient and medical education including, but not limited to, community lectures, nursing student rotations, physician/medical student clinician training and presentations.

Research • Any unreimbursed costs for clinical trials taking place in an SHSSR affiliate or with the Sutter Institute for Medical Research (SIMR).

*Please note that the above SHSSR total includes values from all the acute care facilities and Sutter Medical Foundation (SMF). Details on thecommunity benefit activities of SMF are not included in this report.