U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) wants Ascension CEO Joseph Impicciche to detail "Ascension's questionable priorities that appear to go against its non-profit mission."
"As a nonprofit, tax-exempt, health system, Ascension is required to provide charitable benefits to the community and operate solely to serve a public, rather than a private interest," Baldwin writes in her letter this month.
"Despite these requirements, Ascension has significant for-profit investment activities that dwarf what the system provides in annual charity care."
Baldwin cited reports in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Milwaukee Magazine highlighting "disruptions to patient care, long wait times in the emergency department, delayed surgeries and staff concerns about patient safety" at Ascension Columbia St. Mary's, and the closure of a labor and delivery unit on Milwaukee's south side at Ascension St. Francis.
Baldwin notes that Ascension CFO Elizabeth Foshage boasted at this year's J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference that Ascension held $18 billion in cash and investments.
"According to Ascension, these investments are 'generating capital gains that can be re-invested to support Ascension's Mission to care for those who are poor and vulnerable,' yet there is no indication that the proceeds of Ascension's investment funds are being reinvested in Ascension's Wisconsin hospitals," Baldwin writes.
https://www.healthleadersmedia.com/finance/non-profit-ascension-ceo-pressed-detail-profit-investments-community-benefit