Scripps in the Community

Making our community a healthier place

Scripps touches countless lives in San Diego. As a not-for-profit health care system, we are proud of our multifaceted community efforts, which expand access to vitally needed health care services and improve the quality of life for people throughout the region.

As a long-standing member of these communities, and as a not-for-profit community resource, our goal and responsibility are to provide help and assistance for all who come to us for care, and to reach out especially to those who find themselves vulnerable and without support. This responsibility is an intrinsic part of our mission. Through our continued actions and community partnerships, we strive to raise the quality of life in the community as a whole.

The documentation and activities described in the 2019 Community Benefit Plan and Report (PDF, 12 MB) are commitments Scripps makes in order to improve the health of our patients and our San Diego communities.

In fiscal year 2018, Scripps Health devoted more than $395 million to community benefit programs, including over $20 million in charitable care. Get more facts and figures about the organization's community benefit services and the contributions.

Fulfilling the Scripps mission

Commitment to the community is how Scripps Health began, and it’s every bit a part of who we are today. Our mission is our promise — to our community, our patients and to ourselves.

Serving our community

Community benefit services include those programs offered to the community that go above and beyond what is provided as a normal part of patient care. Scripps divides community benefit services into three categories: uncompensated care; community health improvement services; and professional education and health research.

Uncompensated care

A physician examines a woman, similar to the experience at Mercy Clinic. Located in the heart of San Diego, the clinic provides care for thousands of patients every year regardless of their ability to pay. It's one of many community benefit services at Scripps.

Uncompensated care

Uncompensated health care includes the sum of expenses associated with charity care, Medi-Cal (and other means-tested government programs), Medicare shortfall and bad debt.

Community health improvement

Scripps employees pose for a photo at the Love Your Heart Blood Pressure Screening. The organization joined the joined the County of San Diego for the sixth annual event. It's one of the many community health services at Scripps.

Community health improvement

Community health improvement services include prevention and wellness programs, such as screenings, health education, support groups and health fairs which are supported by operational funds, grants, in-kind donations and philanthropy.

Professional education and research

Scripps graduate medical education programs provide a comprehensive, hands-on curriculum that focuses in patient-centered care. The programs are among one of the many community benefit services at Scripps Health in San Diego.

Professional education and research

Professional education and health research consists of the programs and services developed to train and inspire a new generation of health care providers, or offer continuing education to existing health care professionals.

Beyond these three categories, Scripps spends millions on subsidized health services, including cash and in-kind contributions. The organization is involved in community building activities to address the root causes of health problems. And it is forecasting future demands, assessing community health needs through hospital data, community input and health trends.