Illinois Hospitals:
Caring for Patients... and more

Illinois’ 200 hospitals and health systems form a vital infrastructure of health care services and community benefits throughout Illinois. Whether it’s a major academic medical center in downtown Chicago or a small critical access hospital bordered by farmland in southern Illinois, the mere presence of a hospital in an area benefits both that local community and the entire state.

Jobs & Key Stimulus to State’s Economy: More than a quarter of a million people are hospital employees, paid nearly $15 billion in wages and benefits annually. Hospitals are among the top three employers in nearly half of the state’s counties; hospitals are a key part of the second fastest growing sector of the state’s economy, adding 150,000 new jobs by 2018.

Economic Impact on Illinois: More than $75 billion annually as employers, purchasers of supplies and investors in capital improvements to upgrade health care facilities, technology and equipment.

Charity Care: More than $560 million per year (at cost) to care for those unable to pay for the health services they receive - an increase of nearly 125% since 2005.

Medicare and Medicaid: $2.2 billion absorbed by hospitals in underpayments by government-sponsored programs.

Education and Research: $530 million invested each year to educate the future health care workforce and conduct medical research such as clinical drug trials.

Subsidized Trauma, Emergency Care and other Services: More than $260 million spent beyond reimbursement to provide emergency and trauma care, neonatal intensive care, community health clinics, and many other services.

Committed to Quality & Innovation: More than 200 hospitals are committed to making Illinois a leader in “Raising the Bar” on patient safety and quality, to substantially reduce readmissions and hospital-acquired conditions and infections, and to improve patient quality through a variety of initiatives and collaboratives.

In addition to health care services, hospitals also provide a wide range of local community benefits including:

• Wellness programs and screenings to combat issues such as childhood obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and asthma.
• Outreach programs to provide patient transportation, financial assistance, dental care and access to primary care services
• Targeted programs for seniors, veterans, children, pregnant women, and the disabled.
• Disaster preparedness for natural disasters, terrorism attacks and unexpected events such as campus shootings and flu epidemics.

Illinois hospitals are as diverse as the needs of the communities they serve. Together these individual systems of care form the strong fabric of Illinois’ health care system.