The value of hospitals to their communities is growing.
Community hospitals demonstrated their importance through charity work, even before the COVID-19 pandemic dramatically illustrated their importance.
Missouri Hospital Association's (MHA) 2021 Community Investment Report shows what financial impacts hospitals have on their communities, including their provisions of free care for people below certain income levels.
Latest data from hospitals (for 2019) show for the first time that year, Missouri hospitals provided more than $1 billion in charity care (about $1.02 billion).
For 2018, Missouri's hospitals provided $846.5 million in charity care. Those numbers indicate about an 18 percent increase year over year.
Also in 2019, the state's hospitals absorbed about $693 million in bad debt - when individuals can't pay for the care they receive. (That also was an increase of about 5 percent).
Bad debt often occurs with people who have insurance but high deductibles (of $5,000 for example) and can't pay their bills.
Considered together, charity and bad debt (known as uncompensated care) made up $1.7 billion in expenses for Missouri hospitals in 2019.
Hospitals also generate a great deal in payroll and benefits for the state - approximately $3.4 billion in 2019 when considering how much they spend on health professionals' educations, donations and unpaid costs for Medicaid and Medicare, and when deducting hospital tax subsidies.
They employed about 170,000 workers in 2019.
MHA provides an online consumer data site with information from Missouri hospitals. The searchable site shows SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital provided more than $4.1 million in charity care and absorbed more than $3.4 million in bad debt in 2019.
It also spent $255,000 on health professional education, provided $65,000 in donations and had about $10.9 million in unpaid Medicare costs.
It again generated $66 million in payroll and benefits and in 2019 paid more than $3.7 million in taxes (an increase of more than $100,000).
The hospital showed a loss of about $4 million - a vast improvement over 2018's loss of about $15 million or 2017's loss of about $20 million.
At the same time, Capital Region Medical Center (CRMC) provided $3 million for charity care and absorbed about $7.8 million in bad debt (for $10.8 million in uncompensated care).
The hospital spent $575,000 on health professional education, provided $100,000 in donations and had about $2.3 million in unpaid Medicare costs.
CRMC generated more than $99 million in payroll and benefits, and paid $5.8 million in taxes.
Its net income doubled over 2018, going from $5.7 million to about $11.7 million in 2019.