In March 2006, the Wisconsin Hospital Association surveyed its 132 member hospitals and asked them to describe and quantify the programs, services, and activities they provide at or below cost to fulfill a health need in the community. Those results are now available on the association's ServePoint web site, where consumers can look up individual hospitals to learn what community health services and programs those hospitals offer. The web site also includes information on the total costs hospitals absorbed to provide those benefits, such as community education and outreach programs ($20 million) and 80,000 visits at free and reduced-fee clinics (almost $7 million) in 2005. The survey results, along with personal patient stories illustrating the impact the free services have made on their lives, also have been compiled into the WHA community benefits report, Wisconsin Hospitals Connecting with Their Communities. In total, Wisconsin hospitals last year provided almost $160 million in charity care and sustained more than $500 million in Medicaid losses.
