Vincennes hospital to emphasize contributions to community in lieu of taxes

But included in that loss are expenditures that directly benefit the community.

For example, included in the hospital's $233 million in operating expenses for last year was nearly $105 million in payroll and almost $60 million that was spent with local businesses for goods and services.

And the hospital provided $55 million in what was basically free health-care services.

Those were figures that Tiffany Conover, the hospital's marketing director, presented to members of the Good Samaritan Hospital board of governors at their monthly meeting on Tuesday evening.

Conover pointed out that thousands of health screenings were performed — for free — last year by the hospital, and that hundreds of local school children received instruction in how to live a healthier lifestyle.

Plus, hospital employees volunteered hundreds of hours and donated thousands of dollars to various civic organizations and charitable activities.

Rob McLin, the hospital's president and chief executive officer, told board members that Good Samaritan hadn't done a good job explaining just how much of an impact it has on the community.

“We hear about how we don't contribute enough in taxes, but when you look at these numbers you see we're contributing quite a bit in lieu of taxes to the community, in a lot of other ways,” he said. “That's something we need to promote more and do a better job of getting that information out to the public.”

The hospital's January financial numbers showed an improvement over 2016, with revenues up by $1.5 million. But revenues were under budget by $500,000.

Inpatient revenues were over budget by .5 percent for the month with patient days of 3,041, a 56 percent occupancy rate.