U.S. Rep. Summer Lee Blasts UPMC Over Charitable Donations

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Rep. Summer Lee has slammed UPMC after a study released this week asserted that its flagship hospital in Oakland is the nation's least charitable nonprofit hospital.

The Lown Institute study found the UPMC Presbyterian's spending on charity care and community investment was less than the value of its nonprofit tax exemption by $246 million in the 2020 fiscal year.

"We already knew UPMC was ripping us off, exploiting our hospital workers to the point of a staffing crisis that puts our loved ones’ lives at risk, and leaving our most marginalized communities behind without access to care," Lee, a Pittsburgh Democrat, said in a statement.

"But the fact that we now know that UPMC is cheating our community out of $246 million on the backs of taxpayers is shameful beyond reprieve."

A UPMC spokesman on Wednesday reacted to the study by saying that UPMC contributes more in IRS-defined community benefits and charity care than any other health system in Pennsylvania and ranks among the highest in charity care provided when compared to its national peers.

The American Hospital Association stated that the Lown study can't be taken seriously, saying it relies on obvious biases and suffers from serious methodological flaws.