Initial Statement of Beneficial Ownership (3)

FORM 3	UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 INITIAL STATEMENT OF BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES	OMB APPROVAL OMB Number: 3235-0104 Estimated average burden hours per response... 0.5
	Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940

1. Name and Address of Reporting Person ^*

Aaron Thomas J

2. Date of Event Requiring Statement (MM/DD/YYYY) 5/16/2017

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 /

(Street)

FRANKLIN, TN 37067

(City) (State) (Zip)

5. If Amendment, Date Original Filed (MM/DD/YYYY)

6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check Applicable Line)

_ X _ Form filed by One Reporting Person
___ Form filed by More than One Reporting Person

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	213549	D

*Table II - Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned ( e.g.* , puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)**
1. Title of Derivate Security (Instr. 4)	2. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date (MM/DD/YYYY)		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)
1. Title of Derivate Security (Instr. 4)	Date Exercisable	Expiration Date	Title	Amount or Number of Shares	4. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security		6. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5)
Performance Based Restricted	3/1/2020 ⁽¹⁾	2/28/2027	Common Stock	12500	$0.00	D

Explanation of Responses:

(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.

Reporting Owners
Reporting Owner Name / Address	Relationships
Reporting Owner Name / Address	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		5/17/2017
^** Signature of Reporting Person		Date

Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly.
*	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).
Note:	File three copies of this Form, one of which must be manually signed. If space is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedure.
Persons who respond to the collection of information contained in this form are not required to respond unless the form displays a currently valid OMB control number.