Facebook
Twitter
Nonprofit Conversions & Health Philanthropy
Across the country, nonprofit health organizations such as hospitals, HMOs, and insurance companies are reorganizing. Corporate restructuring often takes the form of converting from nonprofit to for-profit enterprises. These transactions are called “conversions.” Through conversions, two vital community resources are put at stake: health services, such as indigent care, emergency room coverage, and other services that are critical for maintaining healthy communities; and nonprofit or charitable assets that have been built by and for the public.
As conversions go forward, consumer and community advocates are working hard to see that the public interest in nonprofit organizations is well protected. Community Catalyst works to help community groups, state regulators, the media, and the public understand how to protect these essential health resources.
- October 14, 2010 Testimony to the Massachusetts Public Health Council Regarding the Determination of Need for the Transfer of Ownership of the Caritas Christi Hospitals Community Catalyst testified about the proposed sale of the nonprofit Caritas Christi hospital system to a for-profit entity, recommending additional conditions be attached to its approval.
- May 13, 2009 Funding Makes a Difference: The Role of Philanthropy in Massachusetts' Road to Health Care Reform The Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation and Community Catalyst trace the 25-year history of Massachusetts health reform, focusing on the significant role the philanthropic community played in all phases of reform efforts.
- October 01, 2004 Building and Maintaining Strong Foundations: Creating Community Responsive Philanthropy in Nonprofit Conversions A handbook on how community members and consumer advocates can get involved in the creation and ongoing operation of new health foundations in order to address the health needs of their communities. It identifies the primary components of good practices in building and maintaining foundations,and includes lessons learned from conversion foundation launches and strategies for working new and established foundations.
- September 01, 2004 Sample Agenda for Orientation of Foundation Planning Committee Sample agenda for orientation of foundation planning committee
- September 01, 2004 Sample Foundation Conflict of Interest Statements Sample foundation conflict of interest statements
- September 01, 2004 Sample Health Foundation Mission Statements Sample health foundation mission statements
- March 01, 2004 Conversion and Preservation of Charitable Assets of Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans: How States Have Protected or Failed to Protect the Public Interest A Blue Cross/Blue Shield brief
- February 01, 2004 The ABC's of Negotiation: An Advocate's Guide to Negotiating with Providers to Improve Access to Health Care Services This guide was written as an information resource to familiarize advocates with some of the foundational concepts of effective negotiation. The ultimate goal is to help advocates become more comfortable with the practice of negotiation so that it can be a useful skill when striving to improve health care access.
- November 01, 2003 Look at the Full Picture: Analyzing the Community Health Impact of Hospital and Insurer Transactions This publication includes baseline questions to ask when analyzing how proposed hospital and insurer transactions (e.g., conversions) will impact the health of a community
- October 01, 2003 A Conversion Model Act In the last few years, legislators and communities have been successful in introducing improved conversion laws that address some of the more recent trends in conversions. We have included in this Model Act those more recent and enhanced examples of conversion laws throughout the country. We hope you will use this Model Act as a tool to craft a conversion law in your state.
- October 01, 2003 Holding On: Fighting to Preserve Essential Services at a Community Hospital The goal of this manual is to help you organize your community when your local hospital is either going to discontinue individual services or units or close entirely. We use our experience in Massachusetts as a model.
- September 01, 2003 Conversions: A Compendium of State Laws Community Catalyst has compiled this overview of Conversion Laws to assist advocates in understanding the array of approaches taken on the state level.
- August 01, 2003 Conversion FYI A brief by Community Catalyst and Consumer Union
- April 01, 2003 Analyzing the CareFirst Decision: What Does it Mean for Conversions Elsewhere? An analysis of the CareFirst Decision
- January 01, 2003 Kansas Health Foundation A brief on the Kansas Health Foundation's "listening tours"
- January 01, 2003 The California HealthCare Foundation A brief from the California HealthCare Foundation
- August 01, 2002 Neglected and Invisible: Understanding the Unmet Healthcare Needs of People on Long Island With a contract from The Access Project and with technical assistance from Community Catalyst, several surveys were developed. Monitoring Project members conducted a free care survey and performed an analysis of community benefits. The recommendations developed formed the basis of an earlier report, “Hospital Community Benefits and Free Care Programs”, published in March 2001. This second report focuses on the results of a survey of healthcare needs.
- June 01, 2002 Getting to No: How Kansas Advocates Derailed the Anthem Steam Roller Summer 2002 edition of "States of Health"
- October 01, 2000 Community Advisory Committees: An Important Structural Provision for Conversion Foundations Conversion foundations require a high degree of engagement with and accountability to the community they serve. This paper shares recommendations built on current and emerging best practices.
- October 01, 2000 Conversion Foundations: Defining Mission and Structure When a nonprofit health care organization becomes a for-profit corporation through conversion, merger or acquisition, state laws require the assets be preserved for public benefit. The most basic planning issue is to define the mission of the foundation to ensure that the funds are permanently dedicated to purposes consistent with those of the nonprofit.
- October 01, 2000 Conversion Foundations: Standards for Governing Boards Guidelines for forming an effective governing board for charitable foundation dedicated to preserving benefits for the community.
- October 01, 2000 Getting Health Care When You Are Uninsured: A Survey of Uninsured Patients at Four Hospitals in Cleveland, Ohio This report summarizes national data on the impact of health insurance on access to care and health outcomes, and presents the results of the survey in one community, Cleveland, Ohio.
- October 01, 2000 Nonprofit Health Care Organization Conversions: Participation by Philanthropic Leaders Foundation staff and board members have a stake in the larger issues involved in reviewing proposed health care organization conversions, and they have expertise bearing directly on the formation of new charitable foundations. There are many ways in which the involvement of philanthropic leaders is welcome and helpful.
- October 01, 2000 Questions to Ask About Conversion Foundations As philanthropic organizations formed from assets held for public benefit, conversion foundations should be responsive and accountable to the communities they serve. Here are some questions we believe any foundation should be willing and able to answer forthrightly.
- June 01, 1999 Federal Tax Designations for Foundations Created from Conversions A brief on federal tax designation for foundations created from conversions
- May 01, 1999 Bylaws of [Name of Foundation] Bylaws template
- June 01, 1998 Model Articles of Incorporation for a Foundation Articles of Incorporation template