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Phoebe Wants You to Know…
Phoebe Putney is a well-respected hospital whose business practices are proper and in complete accordance with industry standards. We have been recognized as a leader in health care, winning the prestigious Foster McGaw Award and most recently our fourth VHA Leadership Award. As a result, we want you to know that the Phoebe Putney Health System Board of Directors has full confidence in every aspect of Phoebe’s operations.
Independent auditors and multiple legal counsel have reviewed various hospital practices and have found them appropriate and consistent under generally accepted accounting principles and law. In our judgment, these business practices and associated expenses further Phoebe’s overall mission and work. We believe incurring expenses is a natural by-product of growing Phoebe’s medical staff from 70 to 268 and our employee ranks from 1,500 to 3,800 in a 20-year period.
At the same time, we’ve added entirely new medical services, provided state-of-the-art medical equipment and managed the hospital to ensure that it will continue to be a world-class hospital facility for years to come. Now, as the Medical College of Georgia’s first satellite campus, Albany is truly the medical capital of Southwest Georgia.
But, we want you to be able to see more for yourself. That is why we are making more information about the hospital available to the public so you can more easily reach the same conclusion. Below you will find links to a wide range of information on the business and financial workings of this great hospital. We believe by giving the public easy access to this information, we bring an even greater degree of transparency to health care in Albany.
Our Role As a Not-for-Profit Hospital
Senate Finance Committee Response
Throughout the country, citizens, government leaders, businesses and health care providers all have become acutely aware of the reality that increasing health care costs are a national problem in need of a national solution. On the local level, many involved acknowledge that there are national forces at work that make it difficult to find stand-alone local solutions.
One aspect of the health care debate in Congress has been the review of hospital governance. Both Iowa Senator Charles Grassley and California Representative Bill Thomas are involved in that review. Phoebe is participating in the non-profit hospital work being done by Senator Grassley’s Senate Finance Committee.
In May 2005, Senator Grassley sent a list of questions to ten different hospital systems across the country, including Phoebe. Phoebe submitted its responses to those questions. Senator Grassley’s staff, together with others in Congress, continues to work in the important areas of hospital governance, charity care, and expenses. We expect additional inquiries will be received to help the Senator and his staff understand the complexity of the national problem. We have had a number of helpful conversations with Senator Grassley and his staff and expect that they will be ongoing. Below you can view an overview and Phoebe’s responses to the Senate Finance Committee’s questions.
Our Financial Reports
Audited Financial Reports – 2006 and 2007 (278 KB PDF)
Audited Financial Reports – 2007 and 2008 (312 KB PDF)
Our IRS Information Return - Form 990
As a not-for-profit organization, Phoebe files the Internal Revenue Service Form 990 "Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax," every year. Below is a link to Phoebe's most recent Form 990's.
Our Commitment to Low Income Uninsured Patients
Since 1911, Phoebe has taken great pride in increasing access to care for all in need. We continue to make great strides in improving the health of our community. After all, Phoebe was founded on the mission to provide health care to all those in need, regardless of ability to pay.
Community Benefits Guidelines
Last year, Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital provided more than $100 million in community benefits. This figure represents the cost of care for those who are indigent or in need of charity assistance. It also represents other community benefits, including health screenings, flu shots, grants to community partnerships, school nurses and much more. The full footnote is available in our Audited Financial Statements, also posted here on line.
As a part of reporting community benefits, Phoebe has adopted guidelines adopted from a collaboration between VHA and the Catholic Health Association on how hospitals should report community benefits. Such tools for guidelines bring needed and additional clarity to reporting.
Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital currently uses the Community Benefit of Inventory Social Accountability (CBISA) software that upholds the policies outlined to establish consistent reporting and provide community benefits.
You may also read below a letter from Senator Charles Grassley, Chairman of the Finance Committee, who advocates the guidelines set forth by the Guide for Planning and Reporting Community Benefits. The Senator’s letter to Sister Carol Keehan, president and CEO of the Catholic Health Association, shows his support for this valuable resource.
Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital continues to strive for excellence through the adopted VHA-CHA guidelines. As a recognized leader in health care, Phoebe is making a positive difference in the care that is delivered to patients. From transportation services to new patient education classes to nutrition programs, VHA hospitals are helping people where they live, with services they need most.
VHA has a long history of helping hospitals communicate their good work. In fact, more than 800 not-for-profit hospitals today are using software developed by VHA, the Catholic Health Association (CHA) and Lyon Software to track and communicate information on community benefit.
Phoebe has taken that communication to the next level by adopting the guidelines of “A Guide for Planning and Reporting Community Benefit.” The Guide contains standard definitions and reporting guidelines regarding community benefits. To view the pledge letter signed in accordance with the VHA-CHA guidelines, please click below.
Authority Report
Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital provides care and services to the uninsured and many other individuals. Our mission at Phoebe includes offering community benefits that might otherwise be absent; including highly specialized services for critically injured patients, specialty care and diagnostics and culturally competent care for individuals from diverse backgrounds.
There is a nationwide effort to bring focused attention to the community benefits provided by not-for-profit hospitals, including how benefits are computed and reported in easily understood documents.
Georgia Hospital Association Price Check
We encourage you to visit the GHA Price Check Web Site. The site is easy to use. We’ve included a chart here that gives you some basic comparisons of pricing for several medical procedures.
To view the Georgia Hospital Association Consumer Web Site release, click here. |
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