Mercy or Not?

Submitted by Citizen_1 on Thu, 07/19/2012 - 4:56pm

Mercy Fort Smith is turning away ER patients if they have none life threaten injuries.  I understand what the function of a ER are but the spin Mercy is spinning I don't agree with. They said they refer the walkins to another clinic or the people have to pay a $150.00 fee to be seen at the ER. What they don't say is all other clinics are not going to treat without $100.00 to $150.00 up front charge. What does the name Mercy imply? compassion? They are a non-profit hospital but please don't ask them for some charity. They are money hungry.. They fired several employees a couple years ago that had 30-40 years of service to St. Edward's to save money. Spark's is a for profit hospital and are up front telling you they a for profit company. Mercy is two face claiming to be non-profit but they don't take charity patients. Found this on the internet "Nonprofit hospitals are typically considered to accept everyone who comes in the doors, regardless of their ability to pay. Therefore, nonprofit hospitals receive a tax exemption." Makes one wonder is Mercy receiving the tax exemptions?

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Mercy's Charity

Submitted by RobertM on Fri, 07/20/2012 - 2:24pm.

You challenge Mercy’s nonprofit status since you think they don’t accept charity patients, and you think they are sneaking tax exemptions. Mercy Hospital is a Nonprofit Organization (NPO) as defined by section 501(c) of the IRS Code. Put simply, their board of directors is voluntary instead of paid, and they distribute their revenues to achieve their goals rather than for profit or dividends. The type of service they provide and whether or not they charge for it is irrelevant. NPOs can be hospitals, animal clinics, home owners associations, or any of myriad other types of business. NPOs, like any other employer, pay Social Security and Medicare taxes on employee wages and act as a pass-through for employee withholding taxes. Since there is no profit, NPOs pay no income tax. When you talk of “tax exemption,” all I can think of that you mean is their IRS filing status under Section 501(c). Their filing status has nothing to do with treating your cold or flu for free in the ER, and hospital policy doesn’t requires them to turn the ER into a free walk-in clinic. Both Fort Smith hospitals – HMA/Sparks and Mercy – provide tens of millions of dollars of charity care every year. While weeding out the non-emergency cases, Mercy will continue to treat real emergencies in the ER without regard for ability to pay. Yes, Mercy is a nonprofit organization. Yes, they do provide charity care. Yes, they are exempt from taxes on profits, since there are none. I have sat for hours in the ER with a loved one while waiting for a serious condition to be treated; I applaud Mercy for making an effort to improve the level of care for real emergencies.
You challenge Mercy’s nonprofit status since you think they don’t accept charity patients, and you think they are sneaking tax exemptions. Mercy Hospital is a Nonprofit Organization (NPO) as defined by section 501(c) of the IRS Code. Put simply, their board of directors is voluntary instead of paid, and they distribute their revenues to achieve their goals rather than for profit or dividends. The type of service they provide and whether or not they charge for it is irrelevant. NPOs can be hospitals, animal clinics, home owners associations, or any of myriad other types of business. NPOs, like any other employer, pay Social Security and Medicare taxes on ...>> Read the entire comment.
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RobertM and Mercy

Submitted by randy on Fri, 07/20/2012 - 7:20pm.

Any business can show no profits. "they distribute their revenues to achieve their goals" How much money to they pay their CEO and COO at their corporate office in Saint Louis? How much does Fort Smith Mercy pay their CEO? What about the employees they fired that had 35-40 years of service? Is this another way to"they distribute their revenues to achieve their goals" I can tell you they are in it for the money. Ask any Mercy employee that is still there after 30 plus years if they are not looking over their shoulders because they might be next to go. Fort Smith Mercy had a 100% funded pension plan up until last year but no more now. Retired employees could keep their medical insurance after retirement but Mercy did away with that also. Don't try to tell me they are in it for Charity and not for profit.
Any business can show no profits. "they distribute their revenues to achieve their goals" How much money to they pay their CEO and COO at their corporate office in Saint Louis? How much does Fort Smith Mercy pay their CEO? What about the employees they fired that had 35-40 years of service? Is this another way to"they distribute their revenues to achieve their goals" I can tell you they are in it for the money. Ask any Mercy employee that is still there after 30 plus years if they are not looking over their shoulders because they might be next to go. Fort Smith Mercy had a 100% funded pension plan up until last year but no more now. Retired ...>> Read the entire comment.
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RobertM

Submitted by Citizen_1 on Wed, 07/25/2012 - 10:31am.

I did not see your answers to the questions about all the fired employees that had 35-40 years of service. Mercy made this statement "they distribute their revenues to achieve their goals" I guess that is one way to achieve their goals. Let long time good loyal employees go and replace them with new employees making less salaries and benefits. If that is not a money decision I don't what is!
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Citizen_1

Submitted by RobertM on Wed, 07/25/2012 - 6:21pm.

My reply, which TCW chose to not post, said that I am not going to debate Mercy's financial or business practices, since I am not qualified to speak on their behalf. If that had been the point of the post, I would not have responded. The original writer challenges, in his boldface font, Mercy's nonprofit ("tax-exempt") status since they will no longer treat non-emergencies for free in the "Emergency" room. First, Mercy gives away tens of millions of dollars worth of uncompensated patient care every year. That sounds charitable to me. More to the point of the original post, Mercy's nonprofit status has nothing to do with revenues, salaries, or the number of fevers they treat for free in the ER.
My reply, which TCW chose to not post, said that I am not going to debate Mercy's financial or business practices, since I am not qualified to speak on their behalf. If that had been the point of the post, I would not have responded. The original writer challenges, in his boldface font, Mercy's nonprofit ("tax-exempt") status since they will no longer treat non-emergencies for free in the "Emergency" room. First, Mercy gives away tens of millions of dollars worth of uncompensated patient care every year. That sounds charitable to me. More to the point of the original post, Mercy's nonprofit status has nothing to do with ...>> Read the entire comment.
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RobertM Please answer the question

Submitted by randy on Thu, 07/26/2012 - 9:38am.

You seem to side step the question. "Questions about all the fired employees that had 35-40 years of service. Mercy made this statement "they distribute their revenues to achieve their goals" I guess that is one way to achieve their goals. Let long time good loyal employees go and replace them with new employees making less salaries and benefits."
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broken record

Submitted by RobertM on Thu, 07/26/2012 - 10:22pm.

Randy, why do you keep asking me about “all the fired employees that had 35-40 years of service?” Don’t you think Mercy would be the best one to answer that? Once again, let’s go back to the writer’s original point that he emphasized in bold font; he is concerned that Mercy might get “tax exemptions” even though they no longer offer a free walk-in clinic in the ER. Mercy is a nonprofit organization as defined by the IRS code. Nonprofit status has with nothing to do with the presence of a free clinic in the ER, how much their CEO makes, nor whether or not they fire every employee on his 35th anniversary with the company. If you don’t agree with their nonprofit status, then contact your legislators to rewrite the IRS tax code.
Randy, why do you keep asking me about “all the fired employees that had 35-40 years of service?” Don’t you think Mercy would be the best one to answer that? Once again, let’s go back to the writer’s original point that he emphasized in bold font; he is concerned that Mercy might get “tax exemptions” even though they no longer offer a free walk-in clinic in the ER. Mercy is a nonprofit organization as defined by the IRS code. Nonprofit status has with nothing to do with the presence of a free clinic in the ER, how much their CEO makes, nor whether or not they fire every employee on his 35th anniversary with the company. If you don’t agree with ...>> Read the entire comment.
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