The Largest Integrated Community Care Organization: Steward Health Care - Essay Example

Steward Health Care is basically an organization that serves the Northeast part of the United States. In addition, Steward has multiple elements that it oversees. Steward Health Care boasts 12,000 employees; 1,552 hospital beds; 2,305 doctors; 1,880 nurses; 73,546 annual inpatient discharges; 238,551 annual emergency department visits; and 85 communities served (“World Class Health Care Where You Live,” 2011, pg. 5). An employee pool of 12,000 demonstrates Steward’s power. In addition, with several hospital beds, an organization this large definitely is going to be able to turn a profit. With at least two thousand doctors in its system, Steward can afford to buy out other hospitals because its power is so great. Of course, the number of nurses in the system is large as well, but it barely rivals the number of doctors that Steward has. On an annual basis, there are several discharges as well as trips to the emergency room. Basically, in essence, what we have here is an organization that is fit to survive and stand the tests of time.
B. Who is Cerberus?
Cerberus is a large organization that owns Steward—which was then primarily bought out by insurance companies. “Steward, owned by Cerberus Capital Management LP, [will aid]…nonprofit Tufts Health Plan to create Steward Community Choice, which will…[likely] go into effect [January 1st]…The partners are betting that the [insurance] plan's price—which they say will be as much as 15% to 30% below comparable products—will be appealing…” (Mathews, 2011, pg. 2). Ralph de la Torre was, three years ago, put in charge of Cerberus as an organization. “The Boston Globe reported [in 2008] that [Ralph] de la Torre will head the hospital chain following its on-again, an off-again search of nearly two years to find a permanent leader” (“De La Torre Approved as CEO,” 2008, pg. 2).
C. What Are Non-Profit Hospitals?
Non-profit hospitals are exempt from all the taxes to which all other hospitals are subject. According to “Not-For-Profit Hospital Class Action Litigation” (2011), “Not-for-profit hospitals (NFPs), have operated free from federal and state taxes because they have promised the government that they would operate as a charity provider of health care for the uninsured and that they would not engage in business ‘directly or indirectly, for the benefit of private interests” (pg. 1). The premise of non-profit hospitals is that they are not supposed to make a profit of any kind. That is why these organizations are tax-exempt. Non-profit hospitals are supposed to be in business to help people who could not otherwise afford such expensive hospital care and/or doctors’ visits. Non-profit hospitals are in business to, therefore, provide a service—not make money. However, in order to stay open, non-profit hospitals have to make some money. Therefore, they might charge what are discounted fees in order to be able to continue operating. Non-profit hospitals are definitely helpful, especially for people who cannot afford to pay the high costs of healthcare.