Tax Credits Available for Georgia Residents Through Georgia HEART Hospital Program
If you’re like most Americans, you’re breathing a sigh of relief that tax season is over for 2025. But what if there was a way for you to have some say in how your hard-earned tax dollars are spent?
If you pay income taxes to the state of Georgia, you have the opportunity direct your state income tax payment to benefit rural hospitals including Atrium Health Navicent Baldwin and Atrium Health Navicent Peach through the Georgia HEART (Help Enhance Access to Rural Treatment) Hospital Program.
For many years, due to demographic, economic and health care industry challenges, Georgia’s rural hospitals have been facing a financial crisis that has jeopardized rural Georgians’ access to adequate health care. At a time when many rural hospitals are closing, this program allows eligible Georgia hospitals to increase their funding and their ability to provide for the health care needs in their communities.
Georgia taxpayers can receive a state income tax credit for 100% of the amount they contribute to qualified rural hospitalsthrough the program.
“Hospitals like ours provide essential services to residents of rural communities, and we’re grateful to Georgia HEART donors who help our patients receive the best care, no matter where they live,” said Atrium Health Navicent Peach CEO Laura Gentry.
In 2024, Atrium Health Navicent Baldwin purchased cardiac monitors, obtained Glidescopes to ensure proper endotracheal tube placement and upgraded the hospital’s sleep lab using state taxpayer funds contributed through Georgia HEART. Atrium Health Navicent Peach purchased updated medication dispensing machines, which not only help ensure accuracy but also help patients receive the medicine they need more efficiently.
“It’s not often that you get the opportunity to designate how your tax money is spent, but with this program, you can keep those dollars close to home by supporting your local rural hospitals,” said Atrium health Navicent Baldwin Chief Operating Officer Thomas Goss.
Of the $100 million in tax credits available for the program at the beginning of 2025, approximately $78 million is remaining to be claimed.
To claim your tax credit for the 2025 tax year, visit www.georgiaheart.org. For additional information, email Joy.MotenThomas@atriumhealth.org.
About Atrium Health Navicent
Atrium Health Navicent is the leading provider of health care in central and south Georgia and is committed to its mission of elevating health and wellbeing through compassionate care. Atrium Health Navicent is part of Advocate Health, which is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, and is the third-largest nonprofit health system in the United States, created from the combination of Atrium Health and Advocate Aurora Health. Atrium Health Navicent provides high-quality, personalized care in 53 specialties at more than 50 facilities throughout the region. As part of the largest, integrated, nonprofit health system in the Southeast, it is also able to tap into some of the nation’s leading medical experts and specialists with Atrium Health, allowing it to provide the best care close to home – including advanced innovations in virtual medicine and care. Throughout its 130-year history in the community, Atrium Health Navicent has remained dedicated to enhancing health and wellness for individuals throughout the region through nationally recognized quality care, community health initiatives and collaborative partnerships. It is also one of the leading teaching hospitals in the region, helping to ensure viability for rural health care for the next generation. For more information, please visit www.NavicentHealth.org.
About Advocate Health
Advocate Health is the third-largest nonprofit, integrated health system in the United States, created from the combination of Advocate Aurora Health and Atrium Health. Providing care under the names Advocate Health Care in Illinois; Atrium Health in the Carolinas, Georgia and Alabama; and Aurora Health Care in Wisconsin, Advocate Health is a national leader in clinical innovation, health outcomes, consumer experience and value-based care. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Advocate Health services nearly 6 million patients and is engaged in hundreds of clinical trials and research studies, with Wake Forest University School of Medicine serving as the academic core of the enterprise. Advocate Health is nationally recognized for its expertise in heart and vascular, neurosciences, oncology, pediatrics and rehabilitation, as well as organ transplants, burn treatments and specialized musculoskeletal programs. Advocate Health employs more than 160,000 teammates across 69 hospitals and over 1,000 care locations, and offers one of the nation’s largest graduate medical education programs with over 2,000 residents and fellows across more than 200 programs. Committed to redefining care for all, Advocate Health provides more than $6 billion in annual community benefits.