It's important that Meriter remain financially healthy. And it means striking the right balance, because as a not-for-profit, locally governed hospital, we need to generate income greater than expenses to reinvest in the health-related needs of south-central Wisconsin.

How do we reinvest in you? Other than the obvious - an extremely skilled staff and up-to-date equipment and facilities - we positively impact our community's good health through a variety of programs and outreach. Please see the Quality - Community Health and Ways to Give sections for more information.

As one of the area's largest private employers, we are a major contributor to a healthy economy. You, the community, are our major stakeholders. That means we must strive to have ample financial resources in order to be prepared - around the clock, every day of the year - should you need us.

For every dollar of revenue Meriter received to provide care in 2006, nearly 85 cents went toward our day-to day operations (staff salaries and benefits, maintaining equipment and facilities, purchasing supplies, staff training, etc.) Our excess revenues, always reinvested in our buildings and equipment, accounted for just over nine cents of each dollar. And almost six cents went toward funding community benefits. In 2006, we spent $18,369,265 on community benefits such as subsidized services, charity care and medical education.

Please note: This breakdown does not include the shortfall from Medicaid and other government sponsored public programs (Eldercare Options Program and Tricare-CHAMPUS). If these were included, another $14,594,295 would be counted toward community benefits.

Further Information

For further information about community service in specific areas of Meriter Hospital, please see our service line report cards:

• Behavioral Services - 2007, 2006, 2005
• Birth and Family Services - 2006, 2005, 2001
• Emergency Services - 2007, 2006
• Heart Hospital - 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 1999
• Joint and Spine - 2007
• Physical Medicine and Rehab - 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000

You can also review a joint report issued by Meriter and our insurance partner, Physicians Plus Insurance Corporation:

• Partners in Health: A Report to Our Community - 2006, 2005, 2004

If you would like to print the overall hospital information in an abridged format, please open our Meriter Hospital Report Cards: 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003.

Please note the above reports are Adobe Acrobat Reader files. To open these files, you need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer. This is a free plug-in. Download Adobe Acrobat Reader Now For Free!

Next Section: Community Health

3/6/2008