FAQ

The Ardent Cares Foundation is designed to help team members who have suffered an emergency hardship for reasons beyond their control due to a natural disaster, funeral or medical emergency that puts a strain on finances.

Employees and others outside the company can make tax-deductible contributions. Employees can donate PTO if they have been employed by Ardent Health Services for at least one year at the date of donation and are not a CEO, COO, CMO, CFO, CNO or other officer.

Click here to visit our How to Give page.

Employees are limited to no more than one-half of his/her accrued PTO hours, and the PTO balance may not be less than 40 PTO hours after donation.

The donated PTO hours will be converted monetarily to the fund.

Ardent Cares Foundation is managed by an unrelated third-party, Tulsa Community Foundation. The Tulsa Community Foundation is accredited by The National Standards for U.S. Community Foundations® and has 501(C)(3) status. You can learn more about Tulsa Community Foundation here: https://tulsacf.org/about-tcf/tcf-by-the-numbers/

Employees must be full-time or part-time employees of Ardent Health Services or its healthcare systems at the time of the event and complete an application to be reviewed by the Foundation Committee. Applications can be found here. Applications for assistance are confidential and are reviewed by the Tulsa Community Foundation to ensure that a qualifying emergency exists and all supporting documentation required by IRS regulations and established standards are met.

• Natural disasters. Launched in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael, hundreds of our employees needed help with housing and basic necessities. Disasters can include hurricanes, floods, fires, tornadoes, lightning, and other acts of nature that affect our employees’ primary residence.
• Illness or injury. Some examples of illnesses and injuries that may require assistance include heart attacks, car accidents, surgeries, cancer treatments, emergency room visits and other medical bills. Employees can seek help with costs that are not otherwise eligible for reimbursement through insurance, for example, for themselves and their eligible dependents.
• Funeral expenses.  Grants can also cover funeral expenses not covered by insurance.

• Loss of household income because of a cutback in hours or overtime, or because of the loss of a job.
• Credit card bills, vehicle purchases or home foreclosures.
• Expenses incurred due to lack of homeowners or medical insurance.
• Ongoing financial strain that results in your not having enough income to cover your regular monthly bills. The Foundation’s grants aren’t available to resolve ongoing general financial distress.
• Wage garnishments.
• Other similar results of financial hardship.

The Tulsa Community Foundation review committee determines award amounts within preset guidelines per emergency type. Grants are paid directly to vendors, such as hospitals or mortgage lenders.

Grants are paid directly to vendors, such as mortgage lenders, hospitals, etc. on behalf of employees, rather than to employees directly.

1 grant per employee and his/her family per calendar year, 2 grants per employee and his/her family per lifetime at the company.