Challenges Pave the Way for Growth – An Organizational Update

Published by

Darlene Fiscus

February 26, 2025

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” – Galatians 6:9

More than ten years ago, our founder, Susanne Berger, had a vision to make a difference in the lives of patients who didn’t have the resources or knowledge to advocate for their own health – one of God’s greatest gifts. In just seven years since its founding, this vision has become a reality. Today, we serve more than 8,000 vulnerable neighbors each year, and our tremendous growth has been made possible by generous donors, supporters, and patients like you.

Yet, while we have much to be thankful for, it’s a difficult time to be in the business of healthcare. Over the past year, we’ve navigated numerous challenges – from staffing shortages to shifts in funding to an exponential increase in the number of patients who desperately need our care, but don’t have insurance or the ability to pay. Last year alone, we delivered more than $2.8 million in unreimbursed care to our uninsured patients. As we look ahead, we expect to face continued uncertainties in federal funding while the number of uninsured patients who need care in our community continues to grow.

These challenges recently led us to take an in-depth look at our business model. When comparing ourselves to other leading community health centers across the country, we discovered that while we are incredibly efficient, NeighborHealth provides over three times the unreimbursed healthcare services to that of similar clinics, creating a financial strain on our organization. And, while this critical mission is the very reason we are here, we also owe it to our patients and donors to ensure our clinic is financially stable for years to come.

Because of this, we had to make the very difficult decision to restructure, resulting in a 20% reduction in our staff – outstanding people who have put their hearts into NeighborHealth for many years. We’ve also had to limit the number of new uninsured patients we can take in order to create a sustainable payer mix for the future.

While this news isn’t as uplifting as many of the messages we share here, we feel it’s important to be transparent and to share both the challenges and the joys of our work – particularly with the donors and supporters who make it all possible.

Yet, while we’ve had to make difficult decisions this year, the Board and I are very optimistic about the future of NeighborHealth. Our tremendous growth continues as we plan to hire an additional 3-5 providers this year to care for an expected 9,000 patients throughout 2025 – and we continue to evaluate other opportunities for expansion, in accordance with our strategic plan, which remains intact. We also continue to vigorously pursue other sources of funding, hospital partnerships, and the establishment of a robust volunteer provider program that will help increase the capacity to see patients while offsetting operating costs.

Looking ahead, many of our supporters want to know how they can help during these challenging times. You already share so many of your gifts with us, and we are incredibly thankful. Today, the greatest gift you can give is to help share our mission and spread the word about NeighborHealth. To that end, we’re asking you to kindly invite three people in your circle to sign up for this monthly newsletter. This simple action can help bring greater awareness for the important work we do and the powerful impact we have on the lives of those we serve.

Thank you for your continued support. We can’t do what we do without you!