BOSTON (AP) - Massachusetts hospitals provided $601 million in community benefits to local residents - including free or discounted care - during the 2017 fiscal year.
That’s according to a report published Monday by state Attorney General Maura Healey.
The total is down from the $644 million in fiscal year 2016, but up from $571 million in fiscal year 2015.
The report said 58 hospitals reported benefits during the fiscal year that ended June, 2017.
Forty-eight were nonprofit acute care hospitals that reported a total of $559 million in community benefit spending - $242 million of which went to free or discounted care provided directly to patients.
Ten for-profit hospitals reported more than $42 million in community benefits.
Healey, a Democrat, said the benefits help support programs that address unmet health needs.
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