To serve the people of the saratoga region by providing them access to excellence in healthcare in a supportive and caring environment.

Community Health Systems , Health

The foremost commitment of the hospital is to provide superior quality healthcare to the people of our community, regardless of their ability to pay. Saratoga hospital is the largest healthcare provider and only hospital located in saratoga county. The services provided by the hospital to the community are broad and varied. Following is a listing of some of the most significant of those services: * the hospital operates the only emergency department in saratoga county 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. During 2016, the hospital emergency department facilitated 37,012 patient visits. * the hospital represents the only inpatient acute care facility in saratoga county. During 2016, the hospital had 9,146 admissions for inpatient adult and pediatric care. These admissions included 788 births, 628 admissions to our inpatient mental health unit and 61 admissions for hospice care. Total adult and pediatric inpatient days for the hospital during 2016 were 41,316 which included 4,941 days of inpatient care in the critical care unit. * the hospital operated a 36-bed skilled nursing facility (snf) on its campus for part of 2016. During 2016, the hospital ceased operation of its snf, before closing there were 5,959 patient days of skilled nursing care that were provided. * the hospital maintains a financial assistance policy, eligibility for benefit from which is determined by the hospital's patient financial services department based upon the financial means of the patient and/or patient's family. The amount of financial assistance benefit provided to patients is based on the comparison of their documented income versus annual federal poverty level (fpl) standards. The following is a sliding scale of benefits (as a percentage of patient responsibility for reimbursement) available to patients with varying levels of income: o fpl x 250% or below- 100% discount o fpl x 300%- 75% discount o fpl x 350% - 50% discount o fpl x 400%- 25% discount in addition to the means-tested financial assistance program described above, the hospital provides an automatic discount from charges (81% for 2016) for any uninsured patients receiving care at any of the hospital's locations. The discount percentage is determined annually and is designed to result in uninsured patients being billed no more for services than the hospital would be reimbursed by medicare for the same services. This discount applies regardless of a patient's ability to pay. The discount is shown clearly on any bills sent to the patient in order to enhance awareness of the availability of this benefit. The hospital also provides discounted rates to uninsured patients receiving care at its emergency department or urgent care site. Uninsured patients are asked to pay a flat fee per visit, regardless of the amount of charges to their account. Each patient is classified into one of three tiers based on the level of services provided, with a progressively higher all-inclusive fee for each tier. The first tier is for urgent care visits consisting of only an office visit, the second tier is for visits including and office visit and any laboratory or x-ray procedures and the third tier is for visits including an office visit and ct or mri scans. During 2016, the benefits provided under these policies, measured on the basis of costs, amounted to approximately $3,444,000. * the hospital has one site providing urgent care services to the community. Many patients in the community are unable to access primary care on a timely basis if at all. The hospital has continually expanded access to the urgent care site, including nights and weekends in order to meet community need. As a result, our urgent care site has become a significant portal of access to care for the community. During 2016, our urgent care site accommodated 33,529 patient visits. * during 2016 the hospital incurred bad debt expense of approximately $4,132,000 measured on the basis of charges. The bad debt expense continues to