Charitable group Spark of Hudson donated $1.2 million to Hudson, N.Y.-based Columbia Memorial Health to forgive the medical debt held by 1,156 patients, the Times Union reported Jan. 12.
Recipients of debt relief will be notified by mail over the next three days. Debt forgiveness is focused on patients who had repayment plans set up with the hospital or whose debt was handled by a collections agency.
"To aid our patients, we offer in-house facilitated enrollment counselors who help patients find a health plan that meets their needs, including no cost health plans for those eligible," Columbia Memorial CFO Bryan Mahoney said. "Supporting the Spark of Hudson's program to pay the bills of Hudson city residents was a natural extension of our efforts to mitigate the financial impact of care whenever possible."