St. Luke’s University Health Network has been identified by the Lown Institute for the second year in a row as the No. 1 health system in Pennsylvania for charitable giving.

St. Luke’s is the only health system in the Lehigh Valley with a “fair share” surplus, meaning it spends more on charity and community investment than it receives in tax breaks, according to Lown.

No hospital in Pennsylvania had a greater surplus than St. Luke’s University Hospital in Fountain Hill. Five additional St. Luke’s hospitals – Anderson, Miners, Monroe and Upper Bucks campuses and Geisinger St. Luke’s Hospital – were among the 20 hospitals in the state with a surplus.

“This report’s findings confirm St. Luke’s long-standing commitment to the communities we serve,” said St. Luke’s Vice President of Community Health Rajika Reed, PhD., MPH, MEd. “Our community-based initiatives include early childhood education, adolescent career development, employment assistance, workforce development and safe housing assistance as well as physical and mental health care.

The Lown Institute calculated fair share spending based on 2020 IRS Form 990. Fair share deficits and surpluses for each system were calculated by balancing the estimated value of hospital systems’ tax exemptions against the amount systems spent on charity care and community investment - including community health improvement activities, contributions to community groups, community building activities, and subsidized health care services.

According to Lown research, St. Luke’s University Hospital spent $16,364,000 more on charity care and community investments than the estimated value of its tax exemption. The other five St. Luke’s hospitals’ surpluses totaled nearly $12 million:

• Upper Bucks Campus, $5.81 million.

• Miners Campus, $2,994,000

• Anderson Campus, $1,589,000.

• Geisinger St. Luke’s Hospital, $754,000.

• Monroe Campus, $629,000

Vikas Saini, M.D., president of the Lown Institute, said that given the growing crises in medical debt and chronic disease, “we need hospitals to give their fair share now more than ever. The hospitals topping our list have proved they have what it takes to be great community partners.”

Fair Share spending analyzed

Massachusetts-based Lown analyzed about 1,700 nonprofit hospitals and found 413, or about a quarter, to have a “fair share” surplus. The other 77% spent less on charity care and community investment and thus had a “fair share” deficit.

This is the second year Lown has calculated “fair share” spending. In its first report released last year, the Lown Institute calculated “fair share” spending based on 2019 IRS Form 990. For systems in which 2019 data were not available, data from 2018 were used.

In last year’s Lown report, St. Luke’s was the only health care system in Pennsylvania on Lown’s top-25 list of health care systems with “fair share” surpluses, ranking No. 16 nationally.

Reed noted that under the leadership of our President & CEO, Rick Anderson, St. Luke’s established the Network’s Community Health Department more than 25 years ago. Since then, the department has forged long-term meaningful partnerships with community-based organizations, government and business partners.

Throughout St. Luke’s service area across 11 counties in two states, an array of other outreach projects are making a difference in people’s lives.

For example, St. Luke’s and the Panther Valley School District partnered to begin holding a monthly food pantry to address food insecurity among families in the district. The food pantry provides eligible families with a consistent supply of nutritious perishable and nonperishable foods and beverages.