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Beyond the basics
BMH also sends physicians and staff to
health fairs, hospital-sponsored edu-
cational events, civic clubs, churches
and schools to offer advice on how
to improve your health, wellness and
longevity.
In addition, a number of educational
programs are scheduled regularly in
both Beaufort and Bluffton. They in-
clude classes on prenatal care, breast-
feeding and caring for an infant.
As part of its ongoing commitment
to serve the community's health needs,
BMH:
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Offers high school and college
students interested in a career in
healthcare the opportunity to work
with hospital staff through internship
programs.
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Participates in countywide coalitions
addressing quality-of-life issues, lending
the expertise of its staff on topics such
as obesity and chronic diseases, prena-
tal care, and problems of the aging.
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Supplies food and arranges for vol-
unteer pickups from its cafeteria to the
Help Mobile Wheels program.
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Provides emergency transportation
to people who end up in the hospital
and don’t have any way to get home.
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Offers financial assistance for pre-
scription drugs to those who otherwise
couldn’t afford the medications.
BMH also has partnered with the
Good Neighbor Medical Clinic on
Lady’s Island to provide free diagnostic
testing to residents with limited in-
come and little or no health insurance.
Costs for these services—which include
lab work, x-rays, CT scans, MRIs and
ultrasounds—total several hundred
thousand dollars each year.
“We’re trying to reach out and impact
the health of our residents in a positive
way,” Toomey says. “The programs we of-
fer are a real benefit to the community.”
Providing these services costs the
hospital approximately $1.4 million
annually.
Numbers to know
Charity care
$7.6 million
Bad debt
$8.6 million
Free services
$7.1 million
Community benefit
estimate for fiscal
year 2011
$23.3
million
BMH treats thousands of
people each year who are
unable to pay for their care.
In the fiscal year ending
September 2011, the hospi-
tal wrote off $7.6 million in
medical services at cost. “At
cost” is defined as what it
actually costs the hospital to
provide the medical services
to these uninsured or indi-
gent patients.
“If you make less than
200 percent of the fed-
eral poverty guideline, we’ll
write off 100 percent of the
charges,” says Jeff White,
Beaufort Memorial’s senior
vice president and chief
financial officer. “We don’t
turn anyone away, regardless
of their ability to pay.”
With the economic
downturn, charity costs
have increased dramatically
over the last several years.
In the fiscal year ending in
2009, the hospital absorbed
$3.9 million in services.
The following year, costs
of charity care jumped to
$5.6 million.
Add to that millions of
dollars in bad debt—that
is, services that go unpaid.
In 2009, bad debt cost the
hospital $4.3 million. Last
year, the figure doubled to
$8.6 million.
“We give patients who
have no insurance a 30 per-
cent discount on their
charges,” White says. “They
also may qualify for financial
assistance based on their
income. Even so, some still
don’t pay or can’t pay.”
As the area’s only non-
profit hospital, BMH draws
most of Beaufort and
Jasper counties’ uninsured
patients to its emergency
department, driving up the
cost of charity care and
bad debt.
“We don’t have an
unlimited amount of funds
to provide charity care,”
Toomey says. “We have to
maintain financial stability if
we’re going to live up to our
mission to deliver superior
healthcare services to the
community.”
That is why community
support for the hospital
through the Foundation and
volunteering is critical going
forward. For every dollar
the Foundation provides for
capital growth, BMH would
have to provide an addi-
tional $42 of billed services
to obtain that same dollar.
Last year, volunteers
gave 18,000 hours of service
to the hospital, amounting
to an estimated contribu-
tion of over $392,200.
Free and low-cost care
comes with a hefty price tag
Everyone who needs care gets it
How your hospital
benefits us all
We all know that healthcare
expenses continue to rise, along
with the number of underinsured
and uninsured patients. As the
only not-for-profit, community
hospital between Savannah and
Charleston, Beaufort Memorial
provides invaluable benefits to
people in our area through free
and reduced-care programs, as
well as through partnerships with
other organizations that provide
care, like the Good Neighbor
Center and Help Mobile Wheels.
Here is a quick snapshot over
the past years of some of the
benefits we have given to our
community:
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FY2009—
BMH wrote off
$3.9 million in charity care at
cost.
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FY2011—
BMH wrote off
$7.6 million in charity care at cost.
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FY2009—
BMH wrote off
$4.3 million in bad debt or
unpaid services.
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FY2011—
BMH wrote off
$8.6 million in bad debt or
unpaid services.
Up until a few years ago, BMH
received a small contribution
from Beaufort County to help
supplement outpatient indigent
care, but the hospital no longer
receives those funds. In fiscal
year 2011, BMH could quantify
that, beyond bad debt and charity
care, it contributed more than
$7.1 million in free community
services.
Doctor Referral Service: 888-522-5585
• Health Scene
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