Providence announces record $2.1B in community benefit investments, up $600M from pre-pandemic levels

Providence’s strategic investments work to ensure basic health needs are met and serve to remove barriers to care, build community resilience and innovate for the future

RENTON, Wash., June 20, 2023— Providence, a not-for-profit health system serving the Western U.S., today released its “2022 Annual Report to Our Communities.” In 2022, Providence ministries and affiliates invested nearly $2.1 billion in community benefit programs, including free and discounted, uncompensated and subsidized care and proactive community health improvement programs. This is Providence’s largest investment in community benefit to date and represents an increase of more than $600 million since 2019.

For generations, the Providence family of organizations has served as a vital safety net for those who are vulnerable. Guided by community health needs assessments, community health improvement plans and our Mission, we identify unmet needs and respond with strategic, high-impact investments in community health. Our community benefit programs complement other charitable efforts across Providence ministries and affiliates, including philanthropy and grantmaking, and Mission-driven initiatives for a holistic approach to community investment.

To achieve our vision of health for a better world, Providence combines a long-standing commitment to our communities with high-quality, preventive care to improve health and health equity where we serve. Our community benefit programs are vital to this vision and responding to community need is one of the many ways Providence ministries and affiliates live our Mission.

“Even in these challenging times, Providence’s commitment to our communities has never been stronger, and I am proud that our community benefit investments reached recorded-breaking levels in 2022,” said Providence President and CEO Rod Hochman, M.D. “In communities across the seven states we serve, our teams found new and more equitable ways to bring needed care and services to our patients and the broader population last year. Thank you to everyone at Providence for coming together to serve those in need, especially those who are poor and vulnerable.”

Today, health care is experiencing significant challenges nationally, including the impacts of inflation, a national labor shortage, delayed reimbursement from payors, global supply chain disruptions and financial market weakness. Despite these headwinds, the Providence family of organizations continues to meet growing community need, while strengthening our Mission.

Over the last several years, Providence’s investments in community benefit programs have increased in response to these growing needs and as the result of several factors, including:

• Our continued focus on upstream investments that help address social determinants of health, such as housing instability and homelessness
• A response to economic hardship felt by communities, following the pandemic and due to inflation
• Care for more individuals covered by Medicaid compared to 2021
• An overall increase in the cost of providing care, affected significantly by inflation

Providence’s investments go beyond the walls of hospitals and clinics and deep into communities. These strategic investments help ensure basic health needs are met and help remove barriers to care, build community resilience and innovate for the future. Providence ministries and affiliates support organizations, programs and initiatives that improve health and well-being and increase equitable access to quality care at the community level and at scale across seven states.

Providence’s 2022 Annual Report to Our Communities details these investments and shares examples of the programs and our efforts to make lasting, meaningful impact on thousands of lives in the communities we serve. View the full report here.

About Providence
Providence is a national, not-for-profit Catholic health system comprising a diverse family of organizations and driven by a belief that health is a human right. With 51 hospitals, more than 1000 physician clinics, senior services, supportive housing, and much other health and educational services, the health system and its partners employ more than 117,000 caregivers serving communities across seven states – Alaska, California, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, and Washington, with system offices in Renton, Wash., and Irvine, Calif. Learn about our vision of health for a better world at Providence.org.