Attorney: business image can hurt hospitals.

Not-for-profit hospitals will continue to face legal challenges to their tax-exempt status as state and municipal budgets are squeezed by service demands, says Spencer Knapp, partner with Dinse, Erdmann & Clapp, Burlington, VT. Knapp warns that hospitals could endanger their not-for-profit status by portraying themselves as businesses. "You want to emphasize the hospital's mission, not the bottom line," says Knapp.