Springfield, Ga.-based Effingham Health System plans to reorganize as a nonprofit entity and expand its services beyond Effingham County, according to a report from Savannah Now.
"It's going to give us an opportunity to expand the capabilities and the service to the community around us," Rick Rafter, hospital authority chairman, told county representatives and legislators on April 26, according to the report.
The hospital also plans to develop a self-insurance plan called Effingham Cares, as well as add oncology services and a chemotherapy suite by the end of the year.
Those who currently sit on the hospital authority board would continue to run the organization as a nonprofit. A public hearing on the change will take place July 5, and the reorganization is expected to go into effect in October, according to the report.
The hospital's nonprofit status will provide it with more ways to make money, such as by building office space for physicians and sharing in the ownership of the buildings, according to the report.
Senate Bill 258, which Governor Nathan Deal (R) signed into law April 26, will allow people and corporations to receive tax credits for donations to rural healthcare organizations. Before the law, the Effingham Hospital Authority could not assure donors of gifts that their contributions would be tax deductible.
Effingham Health System is in much better financial shape than many of its rural hospital peers in the state. The hospital was $100,000 in the black last year, despite losing $12 million a year in uncompensated care. Effingham County only gives the hospital $3.6 million in state tax money each year, according to the report.