Ownership Submission
FORM 3
UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

INITIAL STATEMENT OF BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES

Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940
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(Print or Type Responses)
1. Name and Address of Reporting Person *
  Aaron Thomas J
2. Date of Event Requiring Statement (Month/Day/Year)
05/16/2017
3. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol
COMMUNITY HEALTH SYSTEMS INC [CYH]
(Last)
(First)
(Middle)
4000 MERIDIAN BOULEVARD
4. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer
(Check all applicable)
_____ Director _____ 10% Owner
__X__ Officer (give title below) _____ Other (specify below)
EVP and CFO
5. If Amendment, Date Original Filed(Month/Day/Year)
(Street)

FRANKLIN, TN 37067
6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing(Check Applicable Line)
_X_ Form filed by One Reporting Person
___ Form filed by More than One Reporting Person
(City)
(State)
(Zip)
Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned
1.Title of Security
(Instr. 4)
2. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned
(Instr. 4)
3. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I)
(Instr. 5)
4. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership
(Instr. 5)
Common Stock 213,549
D
 

Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly. SEC 1473 (7-02)
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Table II - Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)
1. Title of Derivative Security
(Instr. 4)
2. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date
(Month/Day/Year)
3. Title and Amount of Securities Underlying Derivative Security
(Instr. 4)
4. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security 5. Ownership Form of Derivative Security: Direct (D) or Indirect (I)
(Instr. 5)
6. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership
(Instr. 5)
Date Exercisable Expiration Date Title Amount or Number of Shares
Performance Based Restricted 03/01/2020(1) 02/28/2027 Common Stock 12,500 $ 0 D  

Reporting Owners

Reporting Owner Name / Address Relationships
Director 10% Owner Officer Other
Aaron Thomas J
4000 MERIDIAN BOULEVARD
FRANKLIN, TN 37067
      EVP and CFO  

Signatures

Christopher G. Cobb, Attorney in Fact for Thomas J Aaron 05/17/2017
**Signature of Reporting Person Date

Explanation of Responses:

* If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 5(b)(v).
** Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations. See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
(1) The vesting of 80% of these performance-based restricted shares is subject to the attainment of a pre-determined level of Cumulative Same-Store Adjusted EBITDA Growth between January 1, 2017 and December 31, 2019 (the "Performance Period"). The vesting of the remaining 20% of these performance-based restricted shares is subject to the attainment of a pre-determined level of Cumulative Adjusted EPS for the Performance Period. The target number (100%) of the total performance-based restricted shares is reported in the table set forth above. Between 0% and 200% of the target number of performance-based restricted shares subject to the attainment of the Cumulative Same-Store Adjusted EBITDA Growth and Cumulative Adjusted EPS criteria, as applicable, will ultimately vest on the third anniversary of the date of grant, with the vesting percentage to be determined based upon achievement with respect to the applicable criteria during the Performance Period.

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