On October 7, Empire Health Foundation announced that it had settled its lawsuit against Community Health Systems (CHS), the former owner of Deaconess Medical and Valley Hospital and Medical Center in Spokane from 2008-2017. The settlement requires CHS to eliminate hospital debt for thousands of former patients of the two hospitals, estimated as high as $50 million. Former patients will receive letters informing them of the elimination of their debt.  

The settlement resolves a lawsuit alleging that CHS failed to comply with state charity care law and its own purchase agreement which required it to make “reasonable efforts” to provide charity care to the community at levels that met or exceeded the eastern Washington regional average.

CHS will also pay $20 million to the Empire Health Community Advocacy Fund, a new foundation which will partner with Empire Health Foundation to improve health outcomes for people in eastern Washington. 

“This important precedent provides communities around the state and across the country with a powerful tool to ensure compliance with charity care obligations,” said Eleanor Hamburger, legal counsel for Empire Health Foundation.

For more information about the settlement: Empire Health Foundation v. CHS, article in Spokane Spokesman-Review.