St. John’s Clinic otolaryngologist Scott Estrem, M.D., with a cochlear implant recipient.

What began as a small, four-room hospital has grown into St. John's Health System, bringing a full range of health care services to a growing area of 1.3 million people.

In our 115th year of service to the Ozarks, St. John’s is ranked 15th among the Top 100 Integrated Health Systems in the country.

St. John’s Health System is a 500-physician, 9,800-employee integrated health system that includes St. John's Hospital in Springfield; five regional hospitals in Lebanon, Aurora, Cassville, Mountain View, and Berryville, Ark.; St. John's Clinic and St. John's Health Plans.

St. John’s also has networks of air and ground ambulance locations and home care services in nearly a dozen communities.

A provider of choice for inpatient, outpatient and managed care services, St. John’s has many unique programs, including:

• The region’s only burn unit;
• Only cochlear implant surgery program;
• Only Level 1 Trauma Center for adults and children;
• Only Cyberknife radiosurgery program;
• The region’s only 64 slice CT scanner.

This is a crucial time for St. John’s and all health care providers across the nation. In recent months, not-for-profit health care providers have faced increased challenges from federal lawmakers and others, regarding our tax-exempt status and our commitment to community benefit.

St. John’s accepts our social responsibility to be fair and prudent in our use of resources. The vast majority of St. John’s Health System’s community benefit programs and services work to improve community health and specifically help those who live in poverty, are vulnerable or at risk.

For more than a decade, St. John’s has followed the Catholic Health Association’s Guide for Planning and Reporting Community Benefit.

A conservative approach to calculating community benefit, CHA’s guide defines what should and shouldn’t be considered community benefit using standard approaches to accounting and reporting.

St John’s reports the following categories of community benefit:

• Charity care;
• Community outreach;
• Health professionals education and research;
• Cash, in-kind donations, fundraising and disaster readiness;
• Medicaid subsidies.

St. John’s Community Benefit Priorities include creating and supporting initiatives that help:

• Curb child abuse;
• Curb tobacco use;
• Curb obesity;
• Improve access and quality of prenatal care.

Did you know?

• Tax-exempt health systems must not only be organized to provide a charitable health care service, but also must operationally engage in activities consistent with the purpose for which they were organized.
   
• For a health system to receive a tax exemption, it must be organized as a
  not-for-profit corporation, which means that any profits are reinvested in the organization for the community’s benefit.
   
• Even though a health system receives a tax exemption it may still pay taxes. St. John’s continues to pay real estate and property taxes in many communities. St. John’s is one of the area’s largest taxpayers, paying more than $1.9 million last year.