Scripps in the Community
Making our community a healthier place
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 2018 Community Benefit Plan and Report (PDF, 5.1 MB) are commitments Scripps makes in order to improve the health of our patients and our San Diego communities.
In fiscal year 2017, Scripps Health devoted more than $398 million to community benefit programs, including over $21 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
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
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
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
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.