Reading Hospital

“Tower health elects the members of the governing body”

“The management of the corporation shall be vested in the board of directors elected by the member who is tower health.”

“All decisions are subject to approval by the board of directors as management of the corporation elected by the member.”

“The form 990 is prepared by hospital staff, reviewed by an external tax advisor and posted on a board portal for board members to view prior to filing. Members are alerted to information and notices. A paper copy of form 990 is available upon request for any board member unable to veiw the portal.”

“It shall be the policy of the hospital to require each board member, officer and key employee to submit in writing to the chief executive officer a list of business or other organizations of which the member, member's spouse, a decendant, or a spouse of a descendant is an officer, director, member employee or owner (35% or greater share) with which the company might reasonably enter into a relationship or a transaction in which the board member, officer and key employee would have conflicting interests. Each year a copy of the written statement will be sent to the board member, officer and key employee for updating and resubmission and by which the board member, officer and key employee shall confirm his or her awareness of this policy. All members of tower health management (including directors and vice presidents) must complete and submit a conflict of interest disclosure statement annually. Such statements are reviewed by the chief compliance officer.”

“The tower health board of directors has duly appointed an executive compensation committee (the "committee"), which is responsible for the review and approval of all compensation and benefits provided to the hospital's executive management. The committee has adopted a written executive compensation philosophy statement and an executive compensation committee charter governing the work and review process of the committee. The committee follows the procedures described in the philosophy statement and the charter when it reviews and approves the compensation and employee benefits provided to the hospital's senior management, including the chief executive officer and the chief financial officer. The committee's review analyzes every element of compensation, including current and deferred compensation, and benefits, including qualified and non-qualified benefits. The committee conducts its review and approval process at least annually, and approves compensation and benefits only to the extent that the committee has concluded that the compensation and benefits constitute no more than reasonable compensation for each executive. The committee consists entirely of disinterested members of the board, and the committee works with an independent compensation consultant to prepare and review in advance comprehensive data showing the compensation provided by similarly situated organizations for functionally similar positions. The committee also prepares a timely and thorough written record of its deliberations and conclusions. As a result, the committee's review process is designed to satisfy the procedural criteria necessary to qualify for the rebuttable presumption of reasonableness under the federal income tax law intermediate sanctions rules.”

“Same response as line 15a which includes key employees.”

“The organization does not make its governing documents, conflict of interest policy and financial statements available to the public.”

“Website: www.towerhealth.org/locations/reading-hospital the mission of reading hospital is to provide compassionate, accessible, high quality, cost effective healthcare to the community; to promote health; to educate healthcare professionals; and to participate in appropriate clinical research. In addition to its primary role as a provider of direct care, reading hospital addresses issues outside that realm that impact health and wellness. In fact, a key part of our mission means the reinvestment of our resources into these efforts, which are collectively known as community benefit. Reading hospital's community wellness department supports the hospital's community engagement and community benefit endeavors. The department's mission is three pronged and seeks to lead, partner, and invest in strategic health initiatives that target the underserved and address health disparities and social determinants of health. The community wellness department also manages the community health needs assessment and implementation process. Reading hospital's most recent community health needs assessment and implementation plan was completed in 2019 and identified and prioritized four areas of focus: access to healthcare, social determinants of health, disease prevention and management and access to behavioral health services. Throughout the 2020 fiscal year, the hospital implemented strategies to address these priority areas. Access to healthcare: one strategy identified to help increase access to healthcare services was to increase cultural awareness. The hospital conducted a number of cultural awareness trainings for staff to learn about how patients with varying cultures, beliefs, and values experience and perceive healthcare, as well as to share their own experiences. A diversity and inclusion council was also established to identify and educate staff on topics of interest. The goal of both programs is to increase awareness and provide high-quality, patient-centered healthcare. The tower access project, a system initiative, was executed and created a centralized and coordinated advanced access center which is now the single point of contact for community members to find providers, schedule appointments, and access information. Reading hospital's street medicine program seeks to provide health care to some of the most vulnerable members of the berks county community - the homeless. Physician and nursing staff volunteer their time to visit homeless camps, soup kitchens, and shelters to deliver free, primary care to this often underserved and neglected population in an environment that is familiar, safe, and non-judgmental. The program offers three components: delivery of primary care services, patient case management services, and patient education on health and social services. The street medicine program is fully grant funded. Staff volunteers participate during their non-scheduled hours. During fy2020, the street medicine program provided care during over 1,200 encounters with homeless community members. The be well berks website provides up-to-date information about community wellness department initiatives, events, and educational materials for community members. The content is accessible on a number of devices including desktops/laptops, mobile devices, tablets, etc. In fy2020, the website recorded over 5,800 unique visitors and over 6,800 site visits. Our caregivers and support staff participate in a number of community health improvement initiatives, including community health education, screening events, and immunization clinics, that extend beyond patient care activities and are subsidized by the hospital. Programs are offered to all community members for free or at a very nominal cost. Staff participate in community-based health education events, speakers bureaus, and health fairs to provide information and education for prevention and management of chronic health conditions including diabetes, heart health, cancer, respiratory dise”

“Friends of reading hospital financial donation and 352 volunteers (49,649) hours) donated their time to support various projects such as providing prayer shawls, baby hats, chemo hats, neck pillows and hospice quilts. Donated funds for aed's for heartsafe berks county, farm bucks, centering pregnancy, and various other projects.”

“Inpatient care - 184,237 patient days reading hospital provides 725 beds for provision of comprehensive inpatient, outpatient, and emergent care. Inpatient care is provided in 2 critical care units, 2 intermediate care units, 3 acute rehabilitation units, and 13 medical surgical units with sub-specialties that include oncology, neurology, cardiology, heart failure, orthopedics, trauma, bariatric surgery, and medical complexity. In addition, reading hospital provides comprehensive maternal child health services that include obstetrics, neonatal intensive care, inpatient pediatric medical surgical care, and pediatric emergency services. Inpatient services are supported by hospital-based hemodialysis, apheresis, and vascular access services. Reading hospital inpatient care offers the following high level services to support communities within both its primary and secondary markets: 1.regional cancer, cardiac, and primary stroke centers 2.regional transplant (kidney and liver) center 3.trauma level 1 center (only level 1 center within the county) 4.regional level iii neonatal intensive care unit 5.virtual intensive care unit (vicu) 6.charity care program in addition, reading hospital inpatient care is aligned with system programs to improve post discharge care outcomes, care across the continuum from inpatient to ambulatory setting, and decreased readmission, including 1.comprehensive population health services 2.tower health street medicine program - a program to provide health services and preventative care to homeless population within the community 3.tele-health support of heart failure patient population to help prevent readmissions through the remote monitoring of bp and weight reading hospital was magnet designated for nursing and patient care excellence in 2016 and is currently in the redesignation process; this national level designation by the american nurses credentialing center is renewed every four years. This designation indicates that reading hospital inpatient units, emergency department, perioperative services, and ambulatory care departments exceed national benchmarks for nursing quality indicators, patient satisfaction with nursing care, and nurse satisfaction. Emergency care - 116,201 emergency room visits reading hospital emergency department provides emergency, urgent and primary careservices to our community "24/7/365," regardless of ability to pay. Volume to rh emergency department ranks it among the top three in the state of pennsylvania year after year. As the area's only accredited level 1 trauma center, rh also provides immediate access through its emergency department to all specialty services, from trauma surgeons to plastic surgeons, and all areas of specialty care. The hospital also has a pediatric and psychiatric emergency department. In addition to its trauma certification, rh is the only hospital in the region to have made a commitment to accredited care in stroke and chest pain. The hospital also is a center of excellence with 24/7 certified recovery specialists on site to provide warm hand-offs to patients with opioid and other substance use disorders. The department offers sexual assault nurse examiner (sane) program with the berks county district attorney to assist victims of sexual assault. The hospital also has an emergency medicine training program, paramedic school and nursing program.”

“Operating room - 16,645 total surgeries reading hospital operates in a market served by nearly 20 specialty, investor-owned facilities, which carve out the best paying insurance plans, the highest margin procedures, and the least complicated patients to serve. By continuing to provide a full-service surgical service, rh offers the most advanced surgical options, from robotic assisted, minimally invasive surgery to a full spectrum of outpatient surgical options. And to ensure our community has access to surgical specialties that may be experiencing shortages elsewhere in the country. Rh supports its surgeons in their fellowship training and recruits and retains surgeons in areas like plastic surgery - available only during limited hours or not at all, in other hospitals in its market.”

“Expenses incurred in providing various other medically necessary healthcare services to all individuals in a non-discriminatory manner regardless of race, color, creed, sex, national origin, or ability to pay. Services include but are not limited to: revenue expense radiology 168,984,197 23,739,370 rehabilitation 18,065,955 18,997,794 heart & vasculare 78,062,443 26,971,085 behavioral health & addiction 5,424,256 6,175,063 physical therapy 2,947,851 1,827,735 respiratory/sleep center 28,039,283 12,081,182 trauma center 4,834,686 5,161,297 reading hospital saw a large decrease in revenue due to the postponement of non-urgent procedures and the cancellation of elective surgeries. Offsite labs, radiology centers and physician practices were closed causing a decrease in patient visits. Operating expenses increased due to the high demand for personal protective equipment (ppe) for staff and patients and other covid related expenses. A strong emphasis was placed on safety for our patients and staff. As a healthcare organization, we worked to inform the community that delaying healthcare needs places an individual's health at risk. Reading hospital invested in expanding digital, virtual and telehealth services to stay connected with their patients.”

“Pension liability -75,275,605 intercompany asset transfer -86,839,737 assets released from restriction -6,244,340 corporate income tax 993 total -168,358,689”