Advocate Aurora Health contributed $2.2B to community charitable care and services in 2019

Downers Grove, IL and Milwaukee, WI – Advocate Aurora Health contributed $2.2 billion in charitable care and services in 2019, nearly a $100 million increase over the previous year. The not-for-profit health system sponsored numerous programs from behavioral health services to school-based health care and beyond.

Advocate Aurora’s community health strategy is focused on services and partnerships that build health equity, ensure access and improve health outcomes with the long-term goal of reducing the inequitable gap in life expectancy across the organization’s footprint.

“Our diverse and robust community health programs are a direct reflection of our commitment to removing barriers to care and addressing inequities that influence health in our communities,” says Jim Skogsbergh, president and CEO of Advocate Aurora Health. “By responding to unique community needs across our geographic footprint, we continue to help our patients, their families and our communities live well beyond our hospital walls.”

Advocate Aurora Health is one of the largest providers of community care, outreach and education in Illinois and Wisconsin. Community benefit contributions in 2019 included:

• Charity and other uncompensated care that is provided free, subsidized or without full reimbursements from Medicare, Medicaid or other government-sponsored programs
• Subsidized health services that respond to unique community needs, including trauma services, behavioral health services, health screenings, immunization programs, school-based health care and other community outreach programs
• Education to train physicians, nurses, radiology technicians, physical therapists and a host of other highly skilled health care professionals
• Volunteer services provided by team members who donate time to supporting their communities and by community members who volunteer at Advocate Aurora Health sites of care
• Language assistance and interpreter services, as well as translation for signage, forms, brochures, patient education materials and information in languages other than English
• Contributions of equipment, supplies, and meeting and clinic space, as well as other assistance to community groups

One of the partnerships supporting our communities in Wisconsin is the Milwaukee Health Care Partnership (MHCP), a consortium dedicated to improving health care of local low income, underserved populations to improve health outcomes and lower the total cost of care. In 2019, our four Greater Milwaukee Area hospitals – Aurora Sinai Medical Center, Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center, Aurora St. Luke’s South Shore and Aurora West Allis Medical Center – scheduled 1,200+ appointments in our Emergency Department (ED) through the MHCP’s ED Care Coordination (EDCC) program to help individuals establish a medical home with a Federally Qualified Health Center. Additionally, nearly 1,000 were provided prescriptions free of cost through our Essential Medication Fund to uninsured patients who had no resources for medications upon discharge.

At Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Illinois, the Primary Care Connection program connects patients who seek routine care in the ED with more appropriate, lower acuity care options available in their communities. Community health workers assist with care coordination, schedule follow-up appointments and link patients with local social services that can contribute to their overall well-being. The result is prevention of inappropriate ED utilization and subsequent readmissions. Since the program launched in 2016, it has expanded across multiple hospitals and served more than 20,000 patients. During 2019 alone, more than 8,500 patients were engaged, of which nearly 5,000 patients were scheduled for a follow-up appointment. As a result, 96% of these patients who were engaged with the Primary Care Connection intervention did not return to the Emergency Room for a low-acuity visit.

To learn more about our community benefits programs and services in Illinois, click here. For Wisconsin, click here.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.