Community Benefits

While it is a fact that every associate, physician, and administrator at Southeastern Med works at the medical center in order to earn a living to provide for themselves and their families, it is also a fact that each chooses their career in the healthcare field because of their internal nature to give to and care for others.  As a not-for-profit health care organization, Southeastern Med has a tradition of providing services that benefit the community.  These services are not established because of economic opportunity.  They are created because Southeastern Med realizes that there is a need for the healthcare services we provide.

Southeastern Med is aware of the needs of low-income and other vulnerable persons and the community at large.  We provide, alone or by partnering with other community groups, a wide-range of services that are intended to improve the health of individuals within the community.  We educate community members and increase their access to healthcare.  Often times, these free or discounted services benefit people who are uninsured and underinsured.  These services are called community benefits.

Southeastern Med defines community benefits according to the Community Benefit Reporting Guidelines established by the Catholic Health Association of the United States.  In their comprehensive report, community benefits are defined as  “a planned, managed, organized, and measured approach to a health care organization’s participation in meeting identified community health needs.  It implies collaboration with ‘community’ to ‘benefit’ its residents — particularly the poor, minorities, and other underserved groups — by improving health status and quality of life”.