New Community Benefit Law Won’t Alter Vail Health’s Priorities
Nonprofit hospitals in Colorado that receive federal, state and local tax exemptions are expected to provide a certain amount of community benefit. And starting in August 2023, these hospitals — including Vail Health — will have new reporting requirements for how they spend toward “community benefit.”
“Regardless of the new state legislation, Vail Health has proudly been a leader in the state for the past four years, investing in community benefit,” said Nico Brown, Vail Health’s chief strategy officer. “We gather extensive data and community input through our Community Health Needs Assessment to inform where our community benefit is focused.”
Vail Health performs this assessment every three years. The most recent report was released in October 2022. In a previous interview with the Vail Daily, Brown said the report is meant to identify “the gaps that we have here, it identifies — to granular levels — what we can do, what we are doing, and how we’re going to address those gaps.”
Vail Health has invested in a diverse array of community benefits, Brown said this week. This includes its $60 million cash commitment around behavioral health (including the creation of Vail Health Behavioral Health and support of other local organizations); a $194 million investment in compensation and benefits for its employees; free COVID testing and care; an increase in its financials assistance policy; and more.
