Addressing the diverse, challenging and growing needs of California’s Central San Joaquin Valley.

*Data from fiscal year 2022 (September 1, 2021 – August 31, 2022)

Making sure people in our community have access to the healthcare they need has always been our priority. During the pandemic, Community quickly formed a crisis command center, calling on experts from across our system to mobilize to fight this new disease. Employee teams, healthcare partners and community organizations collaborated and shared resources in new ways to expand COVID-19 testing, staffing, PPE supplies and bed capacity – and then later to vaccinate staff and the public.

Community serves as the area’s main "safety net" provider, caring for a large share of the uninsured and underinsured in Central California – a region that's considered one of America's most challenging for healthcare. We also provide the only Level I Trauma Center and comprehensive burn center between Los Angeles and Sacramento. We’re continually striving to ensure the highest level of care is available here, close to home, by focusing on the needs of our Valley patients.

We strive to rank among the nation’s top hospital systems in delivering measurable quality care and investing in best practices and innovative technology. Community Regional Medical Center is among the top 15 busiest emergency departments in the country and is the second busiest in California.

On average we receive about 650 requests a month for patients from other Valley hospitals to be transferred to Community’s higher level of care.

Nearly one out of every 62 people in Fresno County wears a Community Health System ID badge – as an employee, volunteer, student, contract worker or affiliated medical provider such as a dentist, doctor or paramedic. It takes the strength of all of us working together to create a healthier community. Community is committed to growing and managing a workforce that meets the Valley’s expanding health needs, including creating opportunities to encourage those with special expertise to relocate or stay here to provide more people in our community with access to medical care.

We’ve been named to Becker’s Top 150 Great Places to Work in Healthcare list. Our commitment to diversity and inclusion is a cornerstone of our patient care and our work culture, with mandatory education for all employees on respectful LBGTQ+ interactions and California laws against workplace bullying and discrimination. More than 700 employees have invested 20 or more years at Community, finding an encouraging environment to grow their careers.

In a region that’s chronically short of physicians of all specialties, we’re striving to support and encourage more doctors to choose the Valley as the place to practice medicine. More than 30% of our local physicians are over the age of 60 and nearing retirement, which could worsen doctor-to-patient ratios and create hardships for those seeking care in the future. Currently, there are 133 active physicians per 100,000 residents in the San Joaquin Valley compared with 222 active physicians per 100,000 people statewide.

Caring for Central Valley families requires more than just medical care. It means working beyond hospital walls to partner with community groups who are feeding the poor and educating immigrants about diabetes, COVID-19 and vaccinations. It means investing to attract the brightest medical minds, to expand horizons for children and to enhance support for patients.

Community Health System provided $268 million, about 11% of its operating budget, last year in uncompensated care, medical education, outreach and patient support services to create a healthier Valley for us all. California requires hospitals to invest in the people and communities they serve as part of their nonprofit designation and report it publicly in an annual Community Benefit Report.