Two San Francisco Hospitals Provide 92% of Charity Care in City, Report Finds
City-run San Francisco General Hospital and private St. Luke's Hospital provided 92% of all charity care in the city in 2002, with General Hospital providing the majority of charity care, according to a report released last month by the San Francisco Department of Public Health, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The report found that California Pacific Medical Center, Chinese Hospital, Saint Francis Memorial Hospital and St. Mary's Medical Center received "far more" in tax benefits than they spent to provide care for uninsured patients, the Chronicle reports. With an estimated 135,000 uninsured San Francisco residents, 116,392 cases in which patients could not pay for medical services cost more than $68 million in 2002, the Chronicle reports (Gordon, San Francisco Chronicle, 11/28).
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