The Greediest 'Non-Profit' Hospital in America

A recent survey found that 36% of University of Pittsburgh Medical Center workers are in medical debt to their employer.

UPMC is a healthcare giant. It employs more than 92,000 people, has an operating revenue of roughly $26 billion, and as a “non-profit”, it’s technically supposed to provide affordable healthcare to the people who need it most.

But its flagship hospital recently made headlines for being the least charitable non-profit hospital in the country.

In 1969, the tax code was modified so that a hospital didn't have to pay taxes as long as it was “promoting health.” Charity care" became optional.

So Vikas Saini and his colleagues at the Lown institute decided to take a closer look at just how far some non-profit hospitals have strayed from their original mandate of giving back. They looked at over 1,700 nonprofit hospitals nationwide and calculated what they call the “fair share” spending for each. If a hospital took more money in tax breaks than it gave back to the community, it had a fair share deficit.

Meanwhile, UPMC’s former CEO made $12.9 million in 2021. In total, top executives raked in $225 million — more than double what UPMC spent on charity care that year.

That’s enough money to keep hundreds of rural hospitals open, or to cancel the medical debt of hundreds of thousands of patients.

In just the last ten years, UPMC has grown from 12 hospitals to over 40.

Understaffing is pervasive at UPMC — and it’s only become worse as the hospital has gained more and more market power.

In May 2023, a coalition of unions filed an antitrust complaint with the Justice Department, accusing UPMC of using its market power to harm workers.

Three quarters of nonprofit hospitals are getting more in tax breaks than they’re spending on communities. That’s enough money to cancel the medical debt of 18 million Americans.
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[KC-Mitch]

"The Amazon of healthcare" sounds like one of the most dystopian sentences I've ever heard.

[cindymar]

U got me at “charity organizations don’t pay taxes” I can only imagine how more money they’re making under the table

[CaliNic]

"Non-profit" hospitals have adopted the "For-profit" model and they are able to do it because of how the laws were written by the lobbyists.

[daniellanctot]

*_When Charity becomes a Business, then there is no such thing as Charity anymore_*

[kentrzacherl]

UPMC is so evil. They move into small areas, aggressively expand, and ruin local care.

[PeterNielson]

Not having a public healthcare system in our country is already insane, but "company towning" it too is absurdly evil

[OneAdamAdam]

I'm embarrassed that UPMC is even remotely connected to the University of Pittsburgh. Shame on them!

[Paelidore]

As someone who's worked in multiple parts of healthcare, it truly sickens me how much of your healthcare has caved to greed and sociopathy instead of care and healing.

[umj]

America's health system is SICK! Insurance and hospital executives profiting off humans health should be illegal. There should be limit, and any excess profit should be reinvested to the health system. It's despicable that the benefits from all the effort put into medical advancement is blocked behind an unnecessary paywall for most US citizens.

[roamaroundgisg]

Non-profit that becomes for Profit must be taxed.

[chris]

A family member needed a surgery, and it didn't go great, but the hospital had the gall to constantly solicit us to make donations to the hospital despite us paying our bills

[ChToCrhairlesscats]

The salaries of those CEO's are absurd. This whole thing is a shame.

[ninehundreddollarluxuryyac]

Healthcare is devolving into monopolies that squeeze employees at one end because they are the only place you can work, so no competition you could go to for better pay. They squeeze patients for higher fees because there is no place else for them to go for a better price either. And all the money goes to multimillion executive pay. Which is why we need to nationalise healthcare. Retrain the army of clerks who fill out insurance forms and give them skills that help people.

[Theravadinbuto]

No executive at a charity should earn more than 10 times the lowest paid worker. That UPMC CEO is a parasite, pure and simple

[PentaRaus]

The whole system is a giant con, and the working man is the mark.

[agoodshay]

My mother has worked for UPMC for many, many years. Over the last few years her health has deteriorated and, due to a rare condition, she's experiencing a myriad of neurological issues with a high fall risk. She's fallen several times in the last few months and I am terrified and doing everything I can to futureproof her home. UPMC pressured her to go back to work before her diagnoses and essentially dropped her after. They refused to move her to a WFH position (the woman still wanted to help people, even in her struggles), they fought any doctor-recommended work accommodation (their own specialist's opinions!) and she was forced out of her job. She's recently had to take out of her retirement just to pay bills until her painfully slow disability process completes.

They wiped their hands clean of her with no care whatsoever. She was such an asset and still could be if they'd even been the least bit accommodating for someone they've already criminally unpaid and squeezed the life out of for years

[gateauxq]

It’s wild how many people STILL think that not everyone deserves healthcare.

[bobcornwell]

I love it when the CEO says his pay is determined by the board.

Just wish the interviewer had asked him how many other CEOs from other companies sit on that board.

[Boycott-ifeg]

In the USA you can be insured, have access and STILL not get healthcare because the medical community is geared toward profit and sales FIRST & LAST. As a retired (very early) provider myself, I am continually amazed at just how bad our system is and it’s getting worse every year as the malfeasance builds upon itself like a snowball rolling at record speeds! New grads haven’t even been taught to think at all. They’re just taught to follow profit protocols and have ZERO ETHICS. The truth is pretty scary.

[Talik]

Living in PA my whole life, I've always known about the corruption of hospitals with UPMC. I didn't realize how big of an issue it was nation wide