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Community Benefit

Community benefits are programs and services designed to improve health in communities and increase access to health care. They are integral to the mission of Catholic and other not-for-profit health care organizations, and are the basis of tax exemption. For nearly 20 years, CHA has been a leader in the community benefit field, helping not-for-profit health care organizations fulfill their community benefit mission.
Do you have questions or comments about this website or our work in community benefit? Contact us today.
What's New in Community Benefit
March 1, 2010 — The Saint Louis University School of Public Health is now accepting applications for its Certificate Program in Community Benefit. View a fact sheet to learn more about the program.

Feb. 17, 2010 — County Health Rankings - a first-of-its-kind collection of 50 reports — one per state — that ranks all counties within each state on their overall health.

NEW RESOURCES FROM CHA — Schedule H Essay Questions Resource (.pdf), Schedule H Resources for Boards of Trustees and Evaluating Community Benefit Programs .

January-February 2010, Health Progress article — "Community Benefit - A Checklist for Senior Executives," by Julie Trocchio

November-December 2009, Health Progress article — "Auditing Community Benefit," by Jeff Ladenburger, C.P.A.

Reduced rates for CBISA Online now available (.pdf)

Community Benefit Events
06/13/10 Community Benefit Pre-Assembly Program

10/19/10-
10/20/10 Community Benefit 101

Materials from past CHA community benefit events
IRS Form 990
Below you will find the IRS Form 990 and Schedule H. Visit our IRS Form 990 page for a complete listing of resources.

Essay Question Resource (.pdf)

IRS 990, Core Form (.pdf)

IRS 990, Schedule H (.pdf)

IRS 990, Schedule H Instructions and Worksheets (.pdf)

Now available — Schedule H Resources for Boards of Trustees

Community Benefit Leader Profiles

Every other week, CHA has been profiling one of our community benefit leaders online. Each profile contains background information on the individual and Q&A.

Sr. Dorothy Thum, RSM

Regional Vice President, Mission and Values Integration
Mercy Health Partners
Toledo, Ohio

How do you define community benefit at your organization?
Community benefit demonstrates the commitment of our organization to live our mission: "to extend the healing ministry of Jesus by improving the health of our communities, with a special emphasis on the poor and underserved." Community benefit programs or activities improve the health of our community based on community need. Community benefit programs are evaluated based on established criteria and objectives. Community benefit is integrated into our region's strategic and annual operational plans. Organizational structures and management processes ensure the Board of Trustees and Senior Management lead the community benefit direction of the organization. We believe that the collaboration with other community organizations is essential to the sustainability of community benefit programs. A systematic method for calculating and reporting community benefit is established, including the use of the Lyons CBISA software.

Read the complete community benefit profile and Q&A

View all of the profiles

What Counts Q&A

Question: When and how much of health screenings in a mall should be counted as community benefit

Read the recommendation to this question

View all What Counts Q&A

Submit a question to the What Counts E-mail Hotline