OHA member hospitals collaborate to support communities by responding to community-specific needs. Ohio nonprofit hospitals provide significant community benefits to Ohio’s communities. These benefits include financial assistance, Medicaid shortfall, subsidized health services, and community health improvement services like housing support and food access.

Hospitals conduct and publish community health needs assessments every three years. Hospitals collaborate with public health agencies, local nonprofits, health care providers and public officials to conduct these local community healthcare assessments. These assessments support hospitals with determining community benefit activities.

Hospitals measure:

• Charity care — Hospitals provide healthcare for which no payment is expected.
• Community benefit activities — Hospitals respond to a demonstrated health-related community need and seek to improve access to health service, enhance public health, advance wellness knowledge or provide free or discounted care.
• Medicaid loss — Hospitals are reimbursed for services provided to Medicaid beneficiaries at a rate less than the cost to provide the care.

Those totals are reduced by supplemental payments the federal government provides for hospitals that serve a disproportionate share of Medicare or Medicaid patients in their communities. These are referred to as disproportional share hospital payments, or DSH, payments.

2025 Statewide Community Benefit Summary