When most people think of Baptist Health and community benefits, the first thing that comes to mind is caring for the less fortunate or uninsured. It’s not just something we do: It’s at the heart of our mission. Consistent with our spiritual foundation, Baptist Health is dedicated to providing high-quality, cost-effective, compassionate healthcare services to all, including, as permitted by our resources, charity care to those in need.
We actively seek out people who need us. Every Baptist Health patient is given information about our financial assistance program. Our charity care program is far more generous than that of the vast majority of hospitals in the U.S., including the tax-supported Miami-Dade Public Health Trust, which oversees Jackson Memorial Hospital. If you are uninsured and your household income is less than three times the federal poverty guidelines, we provide free care. And our investment in charity care continues to increase. In 2007, Baptist Health provided a record $162 million in charity care.
Fulfilling our mission to provide compassionate care to the entire community isn’t only about assisting those in financial need. It is also reflected in the many services we support that lose money but are essential. These are services that for-profit organizations simply wouldn’t offer.
Pastoral Care and Congregational Health Ministry
Pastoral Care is the core of Baptist Health’s commitment to the community. Chaplains of many faiths provide for the spiritual needs of our patients, employees and their families. In addition, Pastoral Care reaches out into the community through the Congregational Health programs.
Congregational Health supports more than 60 local congregations by providing screenings, preventive care and other health-related services. The program hosts about 30 community events each year, including health fairs and health education events. We team up with organizations such as the American Heart Association, the American Diabetes Association and the American Cancer Society. The Care Teams Program trains volunteers so they can organize themselves into teams that perform community services like bereavement support, home visitation and meals or transportation for patients.