Philanthropy’s Struggle in Health Care:
Nonprofit Hospitals in America: Lives, Jobs and Philanthropy
Exclusive Report Tracks Trends in Nonprofit Acute Care Hospitals

The nearly 3,000 non-government, nonprofit acute care hospitals in the United States provide 580,000 beds and are the backbone of the American medical system.  Yet, pressures of population aging, increased numbers of uninsured, health care cost-containment, technology investment, and the rise of for-profit medical systems have left many hospitals in financial crisis. Margins are falling, bond ratings are dropping, and competition for patients and reimbursement is sharp.

At the same time, the perceptions of the American public have changed. While a decade ago fewer than one in ten Americans saw no difference between nonprofit and for-profit hospitals, today more than half see nothing necessarily distinguishing about nonprofit providers of care. When public opinion erodes, philanthropic support may follow.

What is the future of healthcare and our vital nonprofit hospital system? A ground-breaking report released this week takes on the challenge of addressing the issues facing the industry and looks at what the future may look like.

Nonprofit Hospitals in America: Lives, Jobs and Philanthropy, released by Changing Our World, Inc. and onPhilanthropy, combines an in-depth examination of the trends in and economic impact of America’s nonprofit hospital industry with data on the fundamental role of philanthropy in sustaining its vitality.

Written and researched by Dr. Susan Raymond, chief analyst for onPhilanthropy and a leading expert on philanthropy worldwide, the report addresses contemporary and emergent issues in the nonprofit hospital industry.

Topics include the challenges of competing with privatized institutions, the mounting costs of uncompensated healthcare, the direct and indirect output and labor multipliers of hospitals on the community and economy, the shortcomings of current philanthropic efforts to meet the growing costs of technology and advancement in healthcare, and more.

The study links these trends health care, economic, and philanthropic and suggests future implications.  The report is important reading for all executives, directors, chairpersons, Board members and others affiliated with hospitals and healthcare in the United States. It’s also a vital read for major donors and foundation executives, healthcare companies, investors in the sector, government leaders and the media. Major findings include:

• The year-over-year rate of increase of philanthropy allocated to health care has not kept pace with the rate of increase in health care costs, making the philanthropic dollar more dear in health care institutions.
• Mean charges for the uninsured have more than doubled in less than a decade, further challenging the ability of hospitals to maintain financial stability and putting further pressure on philanthropy to make up for lost revenue.
• The 500,000 jobs in hospitals have created 1.3 million additional jobs in the U.S. economy in the last five years, making hospitals a powerful economic engine.  Philanthropy therefore not only maintains hospital service ability for the needy, it enables the larger economic functionality of hospitals in their communities.

The full report is available for download for a nominal fee.

Susan Raymond, PhD is Senior Managing Director of Research, Evaluation, and Strategic Planning for Changing Our World. She has extensive experience in research, analysis and planning, most recently with the prestigious New York Academy of Sciences.  At the Academy, she created the first technology and public policy program, and then became Director of Strategic Planning and Special Projects.  Prior to this, Susan was a project officer at the World Bank and a senior consultant to the U.S. Agency for International Development and to various private organizations including the Carnegie Corporation, specializing in healthcare and international economic research.

Her most recent book on philanthropy is Philanthropy and the Future: Economics, Ethics, and Management, published by Wiley and Sons in March 2004. Her new book, Mapping the New World of American Philanthropy: The Causes and Consequences of the Transfer of Wealth will be published by Wiley and Sons in April of 2007.  She has published extensively in the areas of philanthropy, economics, health care and corporate responsibility in such journals as Foreign Affairs, Development, Economic Reform Today, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences and Journal of Healthcare Administration Education. 

She is co-author of the recently released A Race Against Time: The Challenge of Cardiovascular Disease in Developing Economies.  This report was covered in, among other publications, the Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine Asia, New England Journal of Medicine, and British Medical Journal.

Susan earned her BA Phi Beta Kappa from Macalester College and her MA and Ph.D. from The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.  Her substantive focus was in the field of health and medical economics and in international public health.

Changing Our World, Inc. is one of the leading philanthropic services companies in the world, providing tailored solutions to a broad range of non-profit and corporate clients. The company’s services include feasibility and planning studies, capital campaigns and major gift initiatives, development outsourcing, corporate philanthropy, planned giving, private philanthropy, online fundraising and communications.

onPhilanthropy.com, Changing Our World’s media arm, is a global resource for nonprofit and philanthropy professionals, and includes an award-winning website, email newsletter, weblogs, and the annual Summit onPhilanthropy.

Changing Our World is part of the Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC), the leading global marketing and corporate communications company.

Information:
Alex Lobanov
212-499-0866
alobanov@changingourworld.com