title: Telling the community benefit story. We must remind our neighbors that we do much more than provide acute care.
abstract: The nation's not-for-profit voluntary hospitals--Catholic organizations among them--provide much more than acute, outpatient, and long-term care. They also provide a variety of services-including clinics for the uninsured, parish nurse programs, in-school programs for children--that reach out to people who are poor, vulnerable, and neglected. Unfortunately, this fact has not been communicated well. As a result, many people have a tendency to ask of these hospitals: "What have you done for me lately?" Voluntary hospitals should do more to communicate their community benefit activities to their various constituencies. Celebration should be the thrust--celebration of the hard work of physicians and staff and their dedication to the communities in which they live. If that fact is celebrated and communicated effectively, voluntary hospitals will find their communities celebrating with them.
authors.forename: Patricia A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Cahill
mesh_terms: D003142:Communication; D003153:Community Health Services / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D016519:Hospitals, Religious / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006788:Hospitals, Voluntary / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D011641:Public Relations; D014481:United States