MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL

Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) is world-renowned for its excellence in patient care, teaching and research. What is less well-known - but equally compelling - is its historic commitment to underserved communities and patients in and beyond. This commitment is embedded in the hospital’s mission to provide high-quality care for all – regardless of ability to pay. To sustain and enhance its mission, MGH’s programs and activities have expanded steadily over the past 30 years with major support for health centers in low-income communities, the creation of a robust Community Benefit Program. Consider the depth and breadth of the hospital‘s commitment.

MGH is the largest private provider of free care in the Commonwealth, serving almost 14,000 uninsured and under-insured patients at an unreimbursed cost of more than $52 million a year to the hospital and another $8.3 million to physicians. MGH is the fifth largest Medicaid provider in the state, treating almost 30,000 patients at a loss of $43 million to the hospital in under-reimbursed care, and another $10.6 million to physicians. These numbers, with a total cost of $113.9 million, are growing rapidly. The hospital fully licenses health centers in Chelsea, Revere, Charlestown, the North End and Back Bay. From humble roots in church basements more than thirty years ago, the MGH health centers last year provided comprehensive primary and specialty care in state of the art facilities to more than 67,000 individuals – many of whom are low income – representing almost 400,000 visits, at an unreimbursed cost of more than $36 million to the hospital. MGH Community Health Associates provides technical assistance, program development and fundraising support to the MGH health centers around public health programs ranging from smoking cessation to breast and cervical cancer screening. The Community Benefit Program (CBP) was created in 1995 with the recognition that the complex issues affecting the health of patients from underserved communities – substance abuse, violence, homelessness and more – cannot successfully be addressed in the doctor’s office alone. The mission of the Community Benefit Program is to “collaborate with underserved communities to make measurable, sustainable improvements in health.” Today the CBP comprises more than 25 programs and is supported by more than $3.5 million from the hospital and Partners HealthCare that leverages an additional $3.4 million from state, federal and private funders.

Partners Community Benefit Report 68

Mission Statement

Partnership is at the heart of the mission of the MGH Community Benefit Program. That mission is:

The MGH Community Benefit Program collaborates with community and hospital partners to build and sustain healthier communities, and to enhance the hospital's responsiveness to patients and community members from diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds.

The following principles guide the community benefit program:

Health must be defined broadly. Poverty, violence, substance abuse, environmental pollutants, poor housing, and lack of economic opportunity all contribute to ill health and can be defined as public health concerns, and measurably improved.

Building trust between the community and the academic medical center is an essential prerequisite to meaningful progress on improving the health of the community.

Partnership with community agencies, schools, police, local government and residents is the most effective strategy for making progress on issues in which all players in the community have a stake and a role.

Measurable outcomes are essential to determine program efficacy and population impact. Tailoring evaluation measures and strategies to community health improvement efforts is a unique challenge. Community Needs Assessment and Planning Process

When the Massachusetts Attorney General’s community benefit guidelines were iss