Improving Community Health by Offering Decent Work: Community Benefits and Corporate Responsibility

Healthcare is a fast-growing sector and has the potential to provide opportunities for individuals living in high economic hardship communities to enter and advance in the workforce. Within the healthcare industry, non-profit healthcare organizations are required to provide community benefits to justify their tax-exempt status (Evashwick & Jackson, 2020). After the Patient Accountability and Affordable Care Act was signed in 2010, hospitals were required to conduct community health needs assessments with particular attention to social determinants of health; this was intended to connect the social determinants of health with community benefits (Keisling, 2019). According to the International Labour Office, decent work—permanent jobs that pay a living wage, provide social benefits, and are free from health risks—can contribute to individuals' health and well-being and the communities where they live (International Labour Organization, n.d.). At the intersection of community benefits, the ACA, and a growing ethic of corporate responsibility in healthcare organizations, consideration of hiring from local communities can lead to a win-win for hospitals, workers, and communities. This thesis is a case study of one urban, academic medical center that demonstrates its potential for improving neighboring communities' well-being through attention to its employees' sociodemographic and economic status. Specifically, it compares employees' demographic and employment characteristics from its defined primary service area (PSA) to those from outside its PSA. This research's desired outcome is to focus community benefits planning on employment practices and provide baseline measures for launching a strategic hiring plan in healthcare organizations that addresses the social determinants of health.