UPMC Fast Facts: Commitment to the Community

As the region’s health care leader, UPMC is committed to improving the health and well-being of its communities.

Download UPMC Fast Facts: Commitment to the Community (PDF)

Giving Back and Improving Lives

$1.2 billion — in IRS-defined community benefits in Fiscal Year 2018

Annually, UPMC contributes more than $1 billion to make our communities healthier. This amounts to 15 percent of UPMC's net patient revenue — a level substantially higher than most peers regionally, statewide, and nationally.

Contributions include:

$343 million — Health Programs and Charitable Contributions

Enhancing health and wellness through 3,000 free and subsidized programs:

• Immunizations, medications, home visits, and transportation
• Support for seniors, children, and people with disabilities
• Emergency preparedness, smoking cessation, and cancer prevention

$395 million — Charity Care and Costs for Those in Need

Committing more to charity care than any other health system in Pennsylvania:

• $87 million in charity care - UPMC  hospitals provide 61 percent of all charity care in western Pennsylvania.
• $308 million to cover unreimbursed costs for Medicaid beneficiaries and other subsidized care.

$489 million — Medical Research and Education

Sponsoring 97 percent of all hospital-funded research in western Pennsylvania:

• $299 million in direct medical research funding to the University of Pittsburgh
• $190 million in medical education programs to foster the next generation of physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and other health care professionals

UPMC Insurance Services

• UPMC Health Plan is among the nation's fastest-growing health plans with more than 3.5 million members. It offers coverage to individual and group health plan members; seniors; and low-income individuals and families; as well as those with disabilities. Products include UPMC for Life, UPMC for You, UPMC for Kids—Pennsylvania's largest CHIP program, UPMC Community HealthChoices, and Community Care Behavioral Health Organization.
• Since its introduction in 1996, UPMC for You has become the second-largest and fastest-growing Medicaid program in southwestern and northwestern Pennsylvania. More than 57 percent of Medicaid enrollees in southwestern Pennsylvania and 64 percent in northwestern Pennsylvania have coverage through UPMC for You.
• UPMC Health Plan is the largest provider-led integrated delivery and finance system in Pennsylvania. Since 2011, UPMC Health Plan has become the fastest-growing commercial health insurer in western Pennsylvania.

UPMC cares for a disproportionate share of high-need patients:

• 7 out of 10 Medicaid patients in Allegheny County
• 7 out of 10 babies born to low-income families in the Harrisburg region
• 8 out of 10 pediatric patients from low-income families in Erie, Lawrence, McKean, Mercer, and Venango counties
• 8 out of 10 patients with behavioral health needs in Bedford and Blair counties
• 7 out of 10 seniors in Clinton, Lycoming, Potter, and Tioga counties are cared for by UPMC Susquehanna hospitals

UPMC is a powerful engine of progress, growth, and prosperity.

$36 Billion Economic Impact

UPMC’s operations have a multiplier effect that ripples through local economies. Every dollar directly spent by UPMC results in more than twice as much impact. 

UPMC’s impact on the region’s economy has more than doubled in 10 years, from $15 billion in 2007 to $36 billion in 2017.

A nonprofit, UPMC contributes substantially each year through taxes and assessment fees, including property, sales, income, and employer taxes. In 2017, UPMC paid:

• Federal $310 million
• State $243 million
• Local $34 million

As Pennsylvania’s largest nongovernmental employer, UPMC supports more than one in four hospital jobs.

UPMC supports minority and women-owned businesses. 

UPMC Is Addressing the Needs of Communities and Making Them Stronger

UPMC is deeply rooted in its communities, and provides more than 3,000 established programs focused on prevention and healthy living, chronic disease management, and navigating resources. UPMC continues to extend its outstanding health care services to many diverse communities throughout Pennsylvania.

Tackling the Opioid Epidemic with Compassionate Care

• UPMC’s Pregnancy Recovery Center is the first outpatient opioid treatment in the region to wrap addiction treatment around prenatal care — fewer babies are born needing withdrawal medications
• Through the Screening Motivational Interviewing and Referral to Treatment (SMART) Choices program, pediatricians are identifying at-risk kids between the ages of 11 and 18 during annual well-child visits
• In Erie, Blair, Lycoming, and Clinton counties, UPMC is supporting the development of a hub-and-spoke model to help providers deliver Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) to residents battling opioid use disorders, using an award from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration 

Caring for Rural Communities

• Improving access to health care in rural areas through telemedicine — making expert medical care more convenient, saving patients time and miles travelled
• Providing in-home educators to help patients better manage their diabetes
• Participating in a pilot program in rural McKean County to support local hospitals, keep health care jobs in the community, and deliver high-quality care to residents who may be isolated 

Supporting Seniors During Their Golden Years

• Keeping seniors on the go through Wellapalooza events, sponsored visits to the Pittsburgh and Erie zoos, and hosting activities from tai chi to bingo
• Connecting seniors and caregivers to resources — from in-home services to caregiver support — through the Aging Institute Help and Referral Line
• Providing education sessions on a variety of topics from living wills to medication management at Ask the Pharmacist events

Fighting Childhood Obesity

• Launched the Healthy Schools Program at 68 schools in the local Pittsburgh area
• Promoting healthier eating through smarter lunchroom strategies and cooking classes in schools
• “Prescribing” park use for local youth to promote physical activity

Nationally Recognized for Meeting Community Health Needs

UPMC was one of only seven hospital systems from across the country selected by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) to serve as a leading example of how a hospital can successfully impact the health of local residents through community health needs assessments (CHNA).

Two of UPMC’s hospitals were identified by the AAMC as best-practice hospitals in conducting CHNAs, especially in preventing childhood obesity and caring for rural communities.