A
non-profit hospital, or not-for-profit hospital, is a
hospitalA hospital is an institution for health care providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment, and often but not always providing for longer-term patient stays....
which is organized as a non-profit corporation. Based on their charitable purpose and most often affiliated with a
religious denominationA religious denomination is a subgroup within a religion that operates under a common name, tradition, and identity.The term describes various Christian denominations...
they are a traditional means of delivering medical care in the United States. Non-profit hospitals are distinct from government owned
public hospitalA public hospital or government hospital is a hospital which is owned by a government and receives government funding. This type of hospital provides medical care free of charge, the cost of which is covered by the funding the hospital receives...
s and privately owned
for-profit hospitalFor-profit hospitals, or alternatively investor-owned hospitals, are investor-owned chains of hospitals which have been established particularly in the United States during the late twentieth century. In contrast to the traditional and more common non-profit hospitals, they attempt to garner a...
s.
In 2003, of the roughly 3,900 nonfederal, short-term, acute care general hospitals in the United States, the majority—about 62 percent—were nonprofit.
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A
non-profit hospital, or not-for-profit hospital, is a
hospitalA hospital is an institution for health care providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment, and often but not always providing for longer-term patient stays....
which is organized as a non-profit corporation. Based on their charitable purpose and most often affiliated with a
religious denominationA religious denomination is a subgroup within a religion that operates under a common name, tradition, and identity.The term describes various Christian denominations...
they are a traditional means of delivering medical care in the United States. Non-profit hospitals are distinct from government owned
public hospitalA public hospital or government hospital is a hospital which is owned by a government and receives government funding. This type of hospital provides medical care free of charge, the cost of which is covered by the funding the hospital receives...
s and privately owned
for-profit hospitalFor-profit hospitals, or alternatively investor-owned hospitals, are investor-owned chains of hospitals which have been established particularly in the United States during the late twentieth century. In contrast to the traditional and more common non-profit hospitals, they attempt to garner a...
s.
In 2003, of the roughly 3,900 nonfederal, short-term, acute care general hospitals in the United States, the majority—about 62 percent—were nonprofit. The rest included government hospitals (20 percent) and for-profit hospitals (18 percent).
Courts generally have rejected challenges to the tax-free status of non-profit hospitals by indigent patients who are forced to pay for services on the grounds that the question is a matter for the IRS and that the indigent patients lacking
standingStanding or locus standi is the term for ability of a party to demonstrate to the court sufficient connection to and harm from the law or action challenged to support that party's participation in the case...
.