Question: Can we count as a community benefit expense the staff time to provide free vaccines for the H1N1 flu virus (swine flu) and the administrative costs involved with storing the vaccine supply. Normally offering something solely to our patients would not be community benefit, but since the swine flu is a national health issue … would this service now qualify as a community benefit? Or would these costs only qualify as a community benefit expense if we were offering the vaccines to the broader community?
Recommendation: If the immunizations are just for people internal to the organization (such as staff or patients), we recommend not reporting these expenses as community benefit. However, if you are providing immunizations for the broader community, and you are paying your staff to provide the service, then the costs could be reported.
(August 2009)