Driven by a combination of poverty, the tax code, and Affordable Care Act requirements, more private safety-net hospitals are reaching out into their communities to spur employment and create economic opportunities.

As described in a new Stateline report, hospitals in Baltimore, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston, and elsewhere have launched new initiatives designed to foster improvements in the communities they serve by raising wages, creating more employment opportunities, increasing spending with community vendors, and investing and participating in community improvement projects – and not just health care projects.

Spurring these efforts are three primary motivations: genuine need; the Affordable Care Act mandate that non-profit hospitals perform health assessments of their communities; and the growing focus on what hospitals need to do to justify their non-profit status.

For a closer look at this issue and efforts currently under way in several cities, see the Stateline article “Surrounded by Poverty, Urban Hospitals Reach Out.”