Memorial Medical Center
Charity Care Program Assists Patients in Need
Dianna Fox was working a weekend shift at a nursing home in
January 2012 when she started having back pain that wouldn’t let
up. She soldiered on for another three hours, but the pain wasn’t
retreating. She decided to get it checked out, assuming it was just
a bladder or kidney infection.
After several tests and a CT scan at Passavant Area Hospital in
Jacksonville, a doctor confirmed that Dianna had a kidney stone –
but something didn’t look right with one of her kidneys either. Another
CT scan revealed she had cancer in her right kidney. It needed to
come out. Six days later, Dianna, 48, had her kidney removed during
a two-hour procedure at Memorial Medical Center. The surgery was a
success, and she didn’t need chemotherapy. She went back to work
in mid-March.
Dianna lives in Raymond, a small community about 40 miles south
of Springfield. The only issue that was troubling her was how she
was going to pay the medical bills, which included nearly $60,000 in
charges for Memorial Medical Center, because she was uninsured.
“I was a basket case,” Dianna recalls. “I had no idea what I was going
to do.”
However, Dianna called the hospital to see if she could work
out a monthly payment schedule. Instead, Memorial helped her to
see if she qualified for the hospital’s charity care. She did. Her entire
bill was covered.
At Memorial, we believe that everyone has a right to medically
necessary healthcare and equal access to treatment, no matter
what their financial status. Charity care assistance provides free or
discounted services to patients who cannot afford to pay all or part
of a bill. In fiscal year 2012, Memorial Health System provided $18.35
million in charity care assistance to people who qualified for help.
“I was absolutely floored that it was all covered,” Dianna says.
“Most of all, I’m thankful to God for people and charities who are
there to help.”