"Humbled": Nonprofit Christian Hospital Dials Back Aggressive Debt Collection and Raises Wages After

“Humbled”: Nonprofit Christian Hospital Dials Back Aggressive Debt Collection and Raises Wages After Our Investigation


MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare will raise the minimum wage it pays employees, dramatically expand its financial assistance policy for hospital care and stop suing its own employees for unpaid medical debts, hospital officials announced Tuesday.

The broad reforms were prompted by a MLK50-ProPublica investigation that detailed how the nonprofit hospital system used aggressive collections tactics, including the courts, to pursue unpaid medical bills from poor patients, including its own employees.

“We were humbled to learn that while there’s so much good happening across our health system each day, we can and must do more,” Methodist CEO and president Michael Ugwueke said on a call with reporters Tuesday.

Yet the faith-based hospital, which temporarily suspended collection lawsuits this month, said it would not altogether stop such lawsuits, as have some nonprofit hospitals that have been the focus of similar investigations.

Read more: https://www.propublica.org/article/methodist-le-bonheur-healthcare-debt-collection-raised-wages-policy-change-after-mlk50-propublica-investigation