Role of Hospitals: Barnes-Jewish Hospital
Barnes-Jewish Hospital (BJC) invests millions of dollars and many volunteer hours in the St. Louis community each year, and the impact can be seen in the thousands of people whose lives are better today as a result. Throughout the pandemic, the need for community benefit programs and services endured. COVID-19 was not the only illness at hand, and patients still faced financial hardships to deal with unexpected or overwhelming medical events.
BJC patients with a demonstrated financial need received more than $459.1 million in charity care or other financial assistance in 2020. Medical, nursing, pharmacy, therapy and other health profession students continued their training, and BJC continued to invest in the future of health care, with $229.7 million supporting 9,929 students. The need for safety net services like trauma care, neonatal intensive care and behavioral health services persisted on a daily basis, and BJC delivered $153.4 million in subsidized specialty care. Fundraising by nonprofit organizations was severely curtailed during the pandemic, due in great part to cancellation of events that are the lifeblood of charitable giving. BJC assisted scores of nonprofit health care-related agencies with philanthropic support totaling $19.1 million. BJC’s normally robust community health programs felt the impact of the pandemic, as most outreach activities were forced to be canceled or delivered remotely in the interest of health and safety. With creativity and innovation, BJC was able to provide $11.1 million in community health programs through 348,921 individual services during 2020.