Charity Care

As part of our mission, Olathe Health System provides more than $25 million annually in charity and uncompensated care. Each patient’s story symbolizes how charitable care is an act of giving that touches everyone involved in the patient’s care.

A young mother of two very young children was one such patient. She had no insurance. She spoke limited English. She was denied treatment at two different area facilities. Then she came to Olathe Medical Center’s emergency room. She was finally able to get a diagnosis and an explanation for her pain. Unfortunately, that diagnosis was terminal cancer. 

“When somebody is told they’re not going to have much longer to live, your main concern is to make them as comfortable as you possibly can—whether that’s a cup of ice cream, somebody to hold your hand when you’re crying, anything to make that moment or that day just a little bit smoother,” said Teresa Huffman, Medical Surgical Oncology Nurse.

The goal of everyone involved in her treatment was to get the patient to a stage where she could go home and have as much time as possible with her children before she died.

“Olathe’s really good about providing charitable care across the board to anyone who walks in our doors,” said Cindy Alexander, RN at Olathe Medical Center. “The Charitable Foundation is what allows us to accept those patients and give them the care that they need. Even though she was the patient, she was so positive and had just such a great outlook on life. I don’t think she realized how much she touched us and how much she gave to us.”

 With the help of Olathe Home Health Services, she was able to spend her remaining days at home with her family. A few days before she died, she shared her concern about her medical bills. Through an interpreter, she was told not to worry, that everything was being taken care of.

“With tears of joy and this big smile and peaceful look, she said to me, ‘Ah, gracias, gracias—oh what a relief, thank you, God, thank you.’ At that moment, we felt like we unleashed a butterfly. We felt like we really touched her soul,” said Elizabeth Schilling, Spanish Interpreter.