Hospitals In Action

Missouri’s hospitals are at the center of efforts to improve care and health in the communities they serve.  

Hospitals provide a safety net for the uninsured and underinsured. In 2023, 128 hospitals provided $677 million in care to individuals who could not afford their care and $389 million in billed services that were never paid. In addition, 82 hospitals absorbed more than $1.2 billion in unreimbursed costs for care provided to enrollees in Medicare and Medicaid — more than $811 million in Medicaid and $440 million in Medicare. When combined, hospitals provided $2.25 billion in unpaid care, at cost.  

Hospitals benefit their patients and communities beyond care costs. In 2023, hospitals contributed more than $413 million to the education and training of the health care workforce and donated $32 million to local causes. When combined with uncompensated care, these investments totaled more than $2.7 billion. 

You can learn more about these contributions on the Missouri Hospital Association’s public transparency site, FocusOnHospitals.com.  

Jon D. Doolittle, MHA President and CEO, says the numbers only demonstrate a part of the value of hospitals’ work. Hospitals engage in significant community-specific health improvement efforts.  

According to Doolittle, individual and community health improvement often occurs upstream of hospital care. Missouri’s hospitals invest in prevention and chronic disease management to reduce the need for care, especially care in a hospital setting. In addition, they assess community health to identify systems and projects that support wellness communitywide. This work reduces poor health and its associated costs, while — most importantly — improving lives.   

Discover how hospitals are making a lasting impact on community health in the stories below. 

BJC HealthCare and Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis partner with community stakeholders — including the St. Patrick Center and Living In Victory, a transitional sober-living housing facility — to move vulnerable individuals into stable, long-term housing. Through the partnership, individuals are provided critical nonmedical and health care services while reducing their dependency on hospitals to meet basic life needs like shelter and food. 

St. Louis, June 2025

Using a system called Mobile Integrated Health, Citizens Memorial Hospital stretches services beyond the hospital campus to support care in the community through improved access to primary care and services from community paramedics in patients’ homes. In addition to reducing the need for rehospitalization, community paramedicine allows care management and identification of nonmedical factors that can lead to poor health, creating better coordination of care and community resources to improve health and wellness, long-term. 

Bolivar, Mo., June 2024

Children’s Mercy Hospital partners with Operation Breakthrough to provide pediatric care at the nonprofit’s campus at 31st and Troost in this historically underserved area of Kansas City. By co-locating health services at this important destination for child and youth development, participants can access preventive care and health care services within the community. At the same time, Children’s Mercy Hospital staff can identify both clinical and community challenges to health while connecting parents with community services offered on-site, through the hospital, at Operation Breakthrough and by other community partners.  

Kansas City, Mo., June 2024

SSM Health is working with the St. Louis Integrated Health Network to bridge the gap between hospital care, primary care and community support resources that allow patients to manage chronic conditions and overall health. With staffing in hospital emergency departments in the region, the SSM Health and the IHN teams can identify patients who could benefit from better care coordination. At the same time, the partnership evaluates what other factors are driving poor health and engages other community organizations to help address nonmedical factors that can impact an individual's health. 

St. Louis, June 2024

 If you are a hospital team member and have a story about the work your hospital is doing to improve health and care, contact us.