DPH Charity Care

San Francisco’s Charity Care Ordinance (Ordinance 163-01) was designed to promote transparency in the provision of charity care among local non-profit hospitals and highlight the community services that hospitals provide in exchange for the benefits resulting from their tax-exempt status. Each report, required by Ordinance, examines the charity care data provided by hospitals, and also explores changes in the charity care landscape, most notably in relation to recent local, state, and national policy changes. 

Charity Care is defined as emergency, inpatient or outpatient medical care, including ancillary services, provided to those who cannot afford to pay and without the hospital’s expectation of reimbursement (i.e., free care).