Atrium Health’s reinvestments into the communities it serves continues to grow. In its first year as part of Charlotte-based Advocate Health, Atrium Health Floyd gave back more than $137 million in community benefit in 2023. In addition, Atrium Health Floyd-Polk Foundation invested $420,000 in the community in 2023.
Across its Georgia and Alabama service territories, the health system reinvested more than $385 million in services benefiting the community. That amounts to more than $1 million per day Atrium Health Floyd and Macon-based Atrium Health Navicent provide in community benefit services.
Atrium Health is the care delivery brand for Advocate Health in the Southeastern United States and incorporates health care sites in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama. Advocate Health, the nation’s third-largest nonprofit health system, totaled more than $6 billion in total community benefit last year across its six-state service region, with Atrium Health comprising roughly half of that total.
“This community benefit report is evidence of our commitment to making a significant impact in all the communities we serve to make health care more accessible for all – including by addressing the social drivers that negatively impact people’s health,” said Advocate Health Chief Executive Officer Eugene A. Woods. “I am inspired on a daily basis by our team’s dedication to providing nationally leading care, not just within our facilities, but well beyond our walls and into vulnerable communities in greatest need.”
“Community hospitals do so much more than take care of patients who enter our front doors,” said Kurt Stuenkel, president of Atrium Health Floyd. “We provide care to those who cannot afford to pay for medical care. We place nurses and athletic trainers in our schools. Our EMS teammates provide medical coverage at community events. Teammates volunteer in our community, and we invest in community programs and services that affect health outcomes in our communities.”
Community benefit, as defined by the IRS, includes community investments into free and discounted care for low-income patients, undercompensated care for those on Medicare and Medicaid and costs related to medical research, among other programs and services that promote health, well-being and community building. Atrium Health Floyd reports its community benefit annually as required by Georgia law.
Locally, these contributions include:
- Subsidized health services including trauma and behavioral health services, screenings, immunizations, school-based health care and other community outreach programs
- Volunteer services provided by teammates in the community
- Contributions of equipment and supplies
- Community education including classes in cardiopulmonary resuscitation, childbirth, diabetes Early Heart Attack Care (EHAC) and Stop the Bleed® training to stop life-threatening bleeding
- Prescription assistance to low-income, uninsured patients
- Telehealth programs in 47 area schools
In addition, last year Atrium Health Floyd opened Georgia’s first from-the-ground-up, stand-alone emergency department, announced a partnership with Georgia Highlands College to increase the number of nurses in this region and joined services with Northwest Georgia Medical Center. All these efforts will produce opportunities to continue to expand Atrium Health Floyd’s community benefit work.
