Nothing small about Mark Twain Medical Center and its outsized community benefits
Mark Twain Medical Center — a rural critical access hospital based in San Andreas, Calif., is just 25 beds. But for more than a half-century, the patients of surrounding Calaveras County have benefitted from the hospital’s significant community footprint.
Mark Twain provided more than $4.9 million in direct community benefit to patients during its most recent fiscal year, according to recently released numbers, in the form of financial support through medical aid to patients unable to afford necessary medical care, reimbursed costs of Medi-Cal/Medicaid, and community benefit improvement services.
Mark Twain is owned and operated by Dignity Health, which combined with Catholic Health Initiatives in 2019 to launch CommonSpirit Health. Mark Twain and other entities owned by Dignity Health provide emergency medical care and medically necessary care to patients regardless of their ability to pay. Patients who are not eligible for a government program are able to qualify for needs-based financial assistance programs, available to uninsured or underinsured patients who meet certain income requirements to help pay for medically necessary hospital services provided by CommonSpirit Health hospitals.