Overview

Non-profit hospitals in the US may need to provide more than a de minimus amount of charity care in order to retain their property tax exemption. That’s one lesson learned from the recent ruling of the Illinois Supreme Court in the case of Provena Covenant Medical Center v. Department of Revenue.

In that case, the Court revoked, for property tax purposes, the tax-exempt status of Provena Covenant Medical Center, an Illinois hospital run by three Roman Catholic religious orders, based in part on its failure to provide enough charity care to patients. The result is an approximately $1.1 million property tax bill for the hospital.

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