Cleveland Clinic’s Annual Community Benefit Reaches Highest-Ever Total at $809 million

In 2016, Cleveland Clinic set a new record by providing $808.7 million in community benefit where it operates in Ohio, Nevada and Florida – a 17 percent increase over 2015.

A measure of the institution’s commitment to financial assistance, Medicaid shortfall, subsidized health services, outreach programs, education and research, community benefit has been central to Cleveland Clinic’s mission since being founded in 1921.

RELATED: Read the full press release about $809 million provided to the community in 2016

In announcing the 2016 community benefit results, Toby Cosgrove, M.D., President and CEO of Cleveland Clinic, said it is tangible evidence of the non-profit institution’s ongoing support of its founding principles: better care of the sick, educating the next generation of healthcare professionals, and funding medical research that leads to advanced treatments and cures.

Among the many community benefit highlights from 2016 is Cleveland Clinic’s ongoing support of:

Stephanie Tubbs Jones Family Health Center, which serves residents of East Cleveland by providing preventive care and treatment for chronic diseases from a facility in the community.

Let’s Move It®, an initiative to connect residents with resources, programs and organizations to empower them to transform their lives and communities through academic achievement, career preparedness, partnership opportunities, collaboration, advocacy, wellness and preventive healthcare.

Minority Men’s Health Center, one of the first programs in the country to broadly address the health issues that particularly impact African-American and Hispanic men. Its annual Minority Men’s Health Fair offers free screenings for a wide variety of health issues, including diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease.

Celebrate Sisterhood, a program dedicated to educating, energizing and empowering women of color to embrace self-care.

Pocket Parks — a Cleveland Clinic collaboration with the Fairfax neighborhood and high school students in the 2017 Cleveland Clinic Louis Stokes Scholars program – which transformed temporary surface parking lots into permanent community greenspace.

Included in the 2016 community benefit contribution was:

• $86.2 million in free or discounted medically-necessary care provided to those patients unable to pay some or all of their bills;
• $328.5 million to cover the unpaid costs of treating Medicaid beneficiaries;
• $19.6 million in other subsidized health services;
• $38.1 million in outreach programs to serve the most vulnerable and at-risk populations;
• $272.3 million in high-quality medical education training programs for residents, physicians, nurses and allied health professionals; and
• $64 million in research into diseases and their cures not covered by grants or other external funding.

Cleveland Clinic calculates community benefit conforming to the IRS Form 990 guidelines. Read more about the 2016 results here.

Related media coverage:

• Cleveland Clinic reports $809 million in community benefit (Crain’s Cleveland Business)