How States Keep Community at the Center of Hospitals’ Community Health Needs Assessments

This brief outlines how hospitals use their tax exemptions to invest in the health of their communities.

Tax-exempt hospitals receive billions of dollars in tax exemptions each year. In exchange, they are required to invest in the health of their communities. But to do that, hospitals must first identify the health needs of the communities they serve. States can work to make sure hospitals truly seek out and act on meaningful input from a wide range of community representatives — not just community members on a hospital’s board or leaders from one or two high-profile community groups.