In recent months, the UNC Health Care System, including Rex Healthcare, has received criticism about the amount uncompensated care we provide in Wake County. (Uncompensated care is the cost of care for which we are not paid). We are proud of our commitment to treat every patient who enters our doors, regardless of their ability to pay – so we’d like to address this criticism head on.
UNC Health Care System providers delivered more than $300 million in uncompensated care last year. Much of that care was delivered to patients in Wake County. We don’t just deliver care to Wake County patients at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill, Rex Healthcare in Raleigh, or our affiliated physician practice groups throughout the Triangle. The UNC School of Medicine also employs more than 30 faculty members and 55 residents who practice full time at WakeMed.
Those UNC School of Medicine residents and faculty provide much of the uncompensated care that is delivered at WakeMed – particularly in OB/GYN. By our calculations, the value we provide to WakeMed well exceeds $20 million annually.
The UNC Health Care System provides uncompensated care to patients from across the state. Our most recent data shows that our care is almost double what is provided by WakeMed. We are proud of our role as the state’s health system and will continue to provide our excellent standard of care to any North Carolinian who needs our services, regardless of their ability to pay.