Charity Care at Driscoll Children's Hospital

Last year, Driscoll Children's Hospital provided over 4.4 million dollars in charity care to pediatric patients in South Texas. In the coming year, this number is expected to double. To reflect just the "charity care" that is offered is only a small portion of the overall uncompensated care that we provide for the children of South Texas. Other areas in which Driscoll provides care at no additional cost to patients include Medicaid and Medicare contractual allowances and also bad debt write offs (expected to be $7 million in FY 11). Despite these losses, Driscoll Children's Hospital is committed to ensuring that every child has access to the same high quality of care, regardless of economic status. This commitment does come at a very steep cost, however.

We are faced with extensive challenges due to our location and the population we serve. In addition, we also face numerous inherent obstacles to being compensated for care in the healthcare industry. Currently, we there are tremendous financial pressures with declining federal and state funding, rising costs of medical technology and a growing Medicaid population. Driscoll Children's Hospital serves approximately a 72% Medicaid mix, which is one of the highest Medicaid populations of any children's hospital in the entire country. For those cases, Driscoll is only reimbursed $.40 on average for every dollar billed.

With over 150,000 patient visits a year, these challenges incur a tremendous financial burden. It is our mission to continue helping all children to receive the highest quality of care available; therefore, it is imperative that Driscoll seeks additional funding to help bridge the gap, to help ensure the most underprivileged and underserved children in our region have access to quality healthcare. Remembering always our commitment to relieve suffering and meet the needs of children, it is the mission of Driscoll Children's Hospital to offer hope and healing in an environment of trust, compassion, and care.

Through offering a chance for a healthy life to these children who would otherwise not be able to afford healthcare, we hope to help break the cycle of poverty and lack of medical/health education. We continue to accomplish this by numerous cooperative efforts within our community. Our hope is to have an impact on this very young generation that will endure during their lifetime and into future generations.

In the upcoming year, we anticipate a financial loss of $10.1 million in charity care alone – and this number does not even reflect the bad debt and Medicaid/Medicare write-offs that will be encountered. As Driscoll continues helping all children in South Texas to receive the highest quality of care available, it is imperative that Driscoll seeks additional funding to help bridge the gap and ensure that the most underprivileged and underserved children in our region have access to high-quality healthcare.