Saint Agnes’ Distribution Of Mandatory Charity Donations Raises Questions
“You have $500,000 that goes to four health-based organizations and the remaining $1.6 million stays within Saint Agnes Medical Center’s systems. It’s like taking money from one pocket and putting it into another,” said Noe Paramo, co-director of Sustainable Rural Communities Program at the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation.
Fresno Bee:
Saint Agnes Gives $2.1 Million In Charity Care, Most Of Money Goes To Saint Agnes Hospice
Saint Agnes Medical Center is paying $2.1 million to nonprofit organizations to comply with an order by the California attorney general that the hospital maintain its charity care to the community. The hospital has awarded $1.6 million to Saint Agnes Home Health and Hospice and $125,000 each to Clinica Sierra Vista, WestCare California, Fresno State Foundation and Camarena Health. The distribution has raised eyebrows among some community activists. The nonprofit Catholic-based hospital in northeast Fresno had asked the attorney general to lower an annual charity-care minimum, established by the state three years ago, from $7 million to less than $5 million. The money covers patients who had no insurance or means to pay for their care in 2015. (Anderson, 11/29)