Northwest Community Healthcare provides more than $88 million for benefit in 2012

Northwest Community Healthcare reported $88.7 million in community benefit in 2012, a 7 percent increase from the previous year, according to its annual report filed with the Illinois attorney general. This report details NCH programs aimed at improving health care for those in need.

NCH community benefit programs, which include charity care, government-sponsored indigent care, education and subsidized health services, among other programs, touched at least 64,000 lives in the Northwest suburbs in 2012, according to the report.

In FY12, NCH provided $72.3 million in government-sponsored indigent care and nearly $9 million in charity care, according to the report. NCH’s outreach programs increased access to primary care through a community nursing program, improved access to mental health services through a behavioral health navigator program and increased access to oral health care through a mobile dental clinic.

Other program highlights included promoting breast-feeding and providing health education and resources to the Latino population through the Promotoras de Salud program.

“We are committed to providing care for the people who live and work in our area, whatever their financial resources are, because we know that in caring for the underserved we create healthier communities for everyone,” NCH chief executive officer Steve Scogna said.

NCH’s Community Benefit Report 2012 is available online at nch.org/publications. To request a print copy, call (847) 618-5570.

Serving Chicago’s Northwest suburbs since 1959, NCH is a comprehensive, patient-centered system of care that serves more than 350,000 outpatients each year, as well as nearly 30,000 inpatients treated annually at the 496-bed acute care hospital in Arlington Heights. For information, visit www.nch.org.