Safety Net Hospital

Every year, more than 10 million people receive care from hospitals and health systems – a complex and diverse set of providers that share a mission to deliver health services to individuals, regardless of insurance coverage or ability to pay. Together with federally funded health centers, free clinics, public health departments and scores of individual physicians and other health practitioners, public hospitals provide critical access points for the nation’s uninsured population and form a vast patchwork of providers that is commonly referred to as “the healthcare safety net.” Despite their importance, there is no single or stable source of financial support for safety net hospitals’ service to their communities.

While safety net hospitals provide a broad range of services, they tend to be associated with two principal types of care – traditional health care services that are provided to low-income, uninsured, immigrant, or otherwise vulnerable individuals; and highly specialized trauma services, general emergency services that are essential to the health of the entire community. Both of these impressions are correct and are indicative of the broad mission under which our hospital operates.

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