Advocate Sherman Hospital

Financial assistance (charity care) and trauma care. Providing inpatient and outpatient health care services to the community regardless of the patients' ability to pay.as part of its community health strategy, Advocate Sherman Hospital (Advocate Sherman) is committed to promoting initiatives that enahance access to health care for the uninsured and underinsured. An example of this is the provision of financial assistance. Advocate Sherman Hospital offers a very generous financial assistance program, requiring no payments from the patients most in need, and providing discounts to uninsured and insured patients. Patients earning up to six times the fpl, and insured patients earning up to two and half times the fpl, may qualify for a full or partial financial assistance discount. Additionally, a catastrophic assistance discount is available for uninsured and insured patients whose incomes exceed the traditional financial assistance income guidelines and have outstanding patient balances of $25,000 or more for a single date of service or sum of several dates of service. These patients may qualify to receive a financial assistance discount that reduces their outstanding balance to 25% of their net income. For uninsured patients, Advocate Sherman Hospital will presumptively provide financial assistance if the financial status has been verified by a third party. In these cases, the patient is not required to submit a separate charity application. If presumptive criteria are not available for uninsured patients, financial assistance eligibility is available using an income-based screening. Advocate Sherman Hospital extends its income-based financial assistance policy to its insured patients as well. The Hospital continues to review and refine its policy in an ongoing effort to ensure that financial assistance is available to those who need help. The Hospital maintains highly visible signage and brochures in multiple languages to inform patients of the availability of financial help and financial counselors. Information about the financial assistance program and an application is provided to all uninsured patients during registration and is mailed to them in advance of the first patient billing. After that, each uninsured patient's bill includes summary information regarding the financial assistance program.

Health care services provided by physicians employed by the organization. Advocate Sherman clinicians provide care to the community both at the Hospital and in the community. Advocate Sherman has more than 35 years of cardiovascular excellence focusing on proactively preventing, diagnosing and treating an array of heart conditions. As an accredited chest pain center through the society of cardiovascular patient care, Advocate Sherman is dedicated to the care of its cardiac patients. This accreditation means that the Hospital integrates the industry's best practices to provide the best possible outcomes in cardiac care. The Hospital's heart failure program has achieved advanced certification in heart failure designation for best practices in caring for heart failure patients. In 2022, Advocate Sherman provided 2,566 cardiac catherizations and 87 inpatient cardiovascular open-heart surgeries. Advocate Sherman is recognized as a center of excellence in treating diseases and injuries of muscles, bones and joints and is a leader in state-of-the-art orthopedic diagnostic and treatment options. Depending on the injury or illness, treatment can range from non-surgical options, such as casts, splints and physical therapy, to surgical options, from minimally invasive arthroscopy to total joint replacement. In 2022, Advocate Sherman performed 1,300 orthopedic surgeries (inpatient and outpatient). Advocate Sherman's cancer care center is accredited through the commission on cancer (coc) and the national accreditation program for breast centers (napbc). The Hospital is a leader in the greater elgin area for cancer carepromoting healthy lifestyles, focusing on preventive and innovative medicine, establishing a comprehensive genetic program, securing nurse navigation, enhancing the oncology service line (inpatient, outpatient and community), as well as partnering with the american cancer society, living well and journey care. In addition, the Hospital participated in a coleman grant for supportive oncology and national cancer institute/yale university grant for distress screening. The Hospital is also focused on developing new education and prevention programs (including colorectal cancer outreach and screenings, and lung cancer screenings), enhancements to genetic counseling, the addition of an oncology nurse navigation resource, including an oncology financial navigator and a partnership with Advocate lutheran general for research and clinical trials. Advocate Sherman's primary stroke center is accredited through det norske veritas healthcare, inc. (dnv healthcare). The scope of the program encompasses the adult population entering the Hospital with a hemorrhagic/ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack (tia) diagnosis. Data is abstracted, submitted and reported through the stroke data registry and the centers for medicare and medicaid services. Other important hospital-based services include the complete care center (ccc) which includes noninvasive cardiology services, heart failure recovery, neurodiagnostics, anti-coagulation, health management resources (hmr) weight management program, diabetes/nutrition, wound care and hyperbaric oxygem therapy and pulmonary function lab. In 2022, the ccc provided 49,309 patient visits through the above programs. Hospital clinicians also provide care to patients at several off-site locations including three immediate care centers for imaging, laboratory, physical rehabilitation and primary care services, as well as a stand-alone imaging center. Advocate Sherman clinicians lead prenatal/ childbirth, parenting education and diabetes education classes. The Hospital also provides support groups focused on individuals struggling with health issues, such as diabetes, heart disease, cancers, ostomies and breastfeeding.

Provision of nursing education and other medical professionals' education. Advocate Sherman staff devote their time to developing proficiency and excellence in nursing students sent to the Hospital from area colleges and universities. The Hospital's registered nurses supervised and taught 272 undergraduate nursing students at a cost of $1.1 million to the Hospital in 2022. Advocate Sherman staff also train students from area colleges and universities in other clinical areas as well including, but not limited to, physical, occupational, speech and rehabilitation therapy, ultrasound, mammography, pharmacy, laboratory, as well as dietary and health information management, at a cost of nearly $2.5 million.

Description of Advocate Sherman Hospital. Advocate health care based in Illinois and aurora health care based in Wisconsin merged to become Advocate aurora health in april 2018. Advocate Sherman is a 255-bed not-for-profit Hospital located in elgin, Illinois, and is one of 27 acute care hospitals in the Advocate aurora health system. Advocate Sherman provides acute inpatient and outpatient medical care to individuals residing in the greater elgin, Illinois area. Founded in 1888, the Hospital has expanded its services to several off-site locations, including three immediate care centers and a stand-alone imaging center. At all these sites of care, the Hospital's 952 credentialed physicians and 1,681 team members (employees) provide quality and compassionate care to individuals regardless of their ability to pay for services received. The Hospital has operated in its current location on randall road since december 2009. Advocate Sherman has been recognized for its commitment to continually improving performance and patient care as demonstrated through its achievement of several awards. Considered the national "gold standard" for nursing excellence among hospitals, the Hospital has received magnet recognition by the american nurses credentialing center, an affiliate of the american nurses association. Magnet recognition is given only to hospitals that satisfy a set of criteria designed to measure strength and quality in nursing care with less than seven percent of hospitals nation-wide achieving this status. The center for breast care at Advocate Sherman is designated as a breast imaging center of excellence by the american college of radiology for its dedication to improving women's health. The Hospital is also an accredited chest pain center, which means the Hospital integrates the industry's best practices and newest models to provide the best possible outcomes in cardiac care. The Hospital's heart failure program received gold level recognition from the american heart association's "get with the guidelines-heart failure program" for commitment to improving quality care. The Hospital is also certified as a primary stroke center by dnv-gl healthcare.advocate Sherman's healthcare providers are engaged in ongoing efforts focused on quality improvement initiatives. These providers use evidence-based practices as an approach to improve quality while reducing unnecessary variation in practice, cost and hospitalization. These efforts are designed to maintain and enhance patient, staff and visitor safety and to improve the environment of care. With a team of nearly 34 cardiologists, Advocate Sherman has over 35 years of exerience with open heart procedures and all forms of cardiac care. In addition to a wide range of cardiovascular services, the Hospital is also an accredited chest pain center with dedicated interventional cardiologists and cardiology and emergency personnel trained in rapid response and treatment of heart attacks, which helps ensure reduced heart muscle damage and saves lives. The Hospital's center for cancer care offers the latest cancer treatments and state-of-the-art technology in an environment custom-designed for healing and compassionate care. The center for advanced liver & pancreatic care provides patients with access to specialized care for the treatment of a wide range of liver and pancreatic diseases that typically have only been treated at academic medical centers. Advocate Sherman achieved recognition as a baby friendly Hospital in 2016 and maintained this recognition in 2022 the core components of the baby-friendly Hospital initiative (bfhi) are the unicef/who ten steps to successful breastfeeding, which are designed to facilitate the role of the birthing facility in providing women the information, care practices and opportunity to breastfeed, regardless of the method of birth. National healthy people 2030 objectives to increase and extend breastfeeding are aligned with this initiative. As an Advocate aurora Hospital, Advocate Sherman supports the organization's vision of "we help people live well and to fulfill its values of: excellence we are a top perfomer in all that we do; compassion we unselfishly care for others; and respect we value the unique needs and preferences of all people. Population served. Advocate Sherman provides quality health care to individuals regardless of race, creed, national origin, age or ability to pay. In 2022, the Hospital's physicians and team members treated 11,844 inpatient admissions, including 2,006 deliveries, and handled 308,127 outpatient visits. As a level ii trauma center, Advocate Sherman provided 1,734 trauma visits and 58,936 emergency department visits in 2022. Advocate Sherman serves a primary service area (psa) including 298,893 people who reside in the Illinois communities of algonquin, carpentersville, west dundee, elgin, gilberts, huntley , lake in the hills and south elgin.according to the 2019 chna, in the Advocate Sherman psa, 9.4 percent of the population is living below the federalpoverty lelve (fpl), which is less than the state of Illinois rate of 13.5 percent and the u.s. rate of 14.6 percent. There is a total of 5,608 families (7.3 percent of total families) living below the federal poverty level. The communities with the largest percentage of families living below the federal poverty level are those in carpentersville (60110) at14.55 percent, elgin (60120) at 12.01 percent and elgin (60123) at 10.97 percent. The psa median household income is $83,604. A high portion of the psa population is of latino ethnicity (twenty-nine percent). There is also a low rate of african american population (4.79%) in the psa.commitment to the community. Even in the face of low reimbursements, Advocate Sherman is dedicated to maintaining a strong presence within its community and continues to monitor expenditures to make certain that the programs and services supported are in direct response to community need. In 2022, Advocate Sherman provided over $56.4 million in community benefit programs and services .these benefits included not only the cost of financial assistance and unreimbursed medicaid and medicare, for example, but also the cost for implementing and sustaining programs specifically designed to meet the health care needs of the community.partnering to assess community needs. Advocate Sherman has been working collaboratively with the mchenry county department of public health and the kane county health department to assess the health needs of the community. Participating in the county-wide health assessments led by both health departments, Advocate Sherman's community health team members have played important roles on the executive leadership oversight committees and sub-committees of these initiatives. Other Sherman Hospital leaders serve in key leadership roles in the oversight committees of both counties, as well as serving on many subcommittees. Advocate Sherman also focuses its internal strengths to assess community needs and to guide program development. The Hospital's community health department plays a key role in working collaboratively with internal Hospital departments as well as with community partners to enhance the health of the community. Community strategy and examples of programs and service accomplishments. As a Hospital within the Advocate aurora health system, Advocate Sherman Hospital implementation plans and strategies align with the aah system strategy. Through this community strategy, the Hospital will build health equity, ensure access and improve health oucomes in its community through evidence-informed services and innovative partherships by addressing medical needs and social determinants of health. Based on need and effect on health equity as identified in the aah hospitals chna reports and on industry literature, the following six focus areas have been prioritized and are the foundation on which the hospital-specific implemenation plans are built. The focus areas are: 1) access to primary medical homes; 2) access to behavioral health services; 3) workforce development; 4) community safety; 5) affordable housing; and 6) workforce development. Each strategy focus area and examples of Advocate Sherman Hospital programs and activities addressing that strategy are provided below.