Opinion ID: 2197282
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Portico HealthNet

Text: Portico HealthNet was founded by the HealthEast care system in 1995 as the MetroEast Program for Health. In its 2001 tax return, HealthEast described Portico as a neighborhood based health care access program serving Ramsey, Washington and Dakota counties. They provide health care services to low-income uninsured people. Their mission is to promote the health and wellness of the uninsured by providing compassionate primary & preventative care through community collaboration. [sic] The governing philosophy of MetroEast is to improve the health of neighborhoods they serve by providing access to these primary and preventative services on a continuous basis so that the health of the residents is not jeopardized during periods of uninsurance. ... [HealthEast's] [management] services include the lease of employees to MetroEast & managing their operations[.] MetroEast reimburses HealthEast for all expenses incurred. HealthEast charges MetroEast at cost. Since 1995, Portico has enrolled more than 7,000 uninsured children and adults in its safety-net coverage program. Another 6,000 have been enrolled in public coverage programs with Portico's assistance. Portico became a free-standing nonprofit, tax-exempt organization in 2000. Since 2000, HealthEast has provided employees to Portico, with Portico reimbursing HealthEast at cost for the employees' wages. [2] Nothing in the record suggests that HealthEast's participation in Portico benefits the HealthEast hospitals or care system. The venture, by providing health care to uninsured Minnesotans, surely appears to benefit the community at large, but a general benefit to the community at large is not part of our test for disregarding an entity's separate corporate status. HealthEast could have supplemented the record on remand in order to show that the Portico venture benefits the HealthEast hospitals or care system, but HealthEast did not avail itself of the opportunity. Applying the principles of Milwaukee Motor Transportation and HealthEast I, we conclude that HealthEast's participation with Portico is a strong indication that HealthEast has a purpose or existence apart from its affiliated hospitals and care system.