Nonprofit Hospitals Lose a Key Battle

The state of Illinois ruled on Friday that a hospital in Urbana, Ill., does not deserve an exemption from property taxes because the amount of charity care it provides represents less than 1 percent of its revenue, the Chicago Tribune reports.

Nonprofit groups across the country have been following the case involving Provena Covenant Medical Center because they fear it could be a bellwether for how other local governments will handle property-tax cases.

Provena has paid nearly $5-million in property taxes since the Champaign County Board of Review removed the hospital’s tax-exempt status in 2003, citing the hospital’s aggressive attempts to collect money from poor and uninsured patients.

Provena officials say they plan to appeal the state’s ruling.

The hospital’s officials, as well as those at other institutions, say that government officials are ignoring community services the hospital provides such as health fairs, immunizations, disease-prevention programs, and other services.