FORM 4 Check this box if no longer subject to Section 16. Form 4 or Form 5 obligations may continue. See Instruction 1(b).

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN 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

OMB APPROVAL OMB Number: 3235-0287 Expires: January 31, 2005 Estimated average burden hours per response... 0.5

(Print or Type Responses)

1. Name and Address of Reporting Person * Horrar Robert O   2. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol COMMUNITY HEALTH SYSTEMS INC [CYH] 5. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer (Check all applicable) _____ Director _____ 10% Owner __X__ Officer (give title below) _____ Other (specify below) Division President (Last) (First) (Middle) 4000 MERIDIAN BOULEVARD 3. Date of Earliest Transaction (Month/Day/Year) 03/01/2017 (Street) FRANKLIN, TN 37067 4. If Amendment, Date Original Filed(Month/Day/Year) 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 Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned

1.Title of Security (Instr. 3) 2. Transaction Date (Month/Day/Year) 2A. Deemed Execution Date, if any (Month/Day/Year) 3. Transaction Code (Instr. 8) 4. Securities Acquired (A) or Disposed of (D) (Instr. 3, 4 and 5) 5. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned Following Reported Transaction(s) (Instr. 3 and 4) 6. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 4) 7. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 4) Code V Amount (A) or (D) Price Common Stock 03/01/2017   M   35,000 A $ 0 57,739 D   Common Stock 03/01/2017   A   20,000 (1) A $ 0 77,739 D   Common Stock 03/01/2017   F   9,090 D $ 9.19 68,649 D

Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly.
	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.		SEC 1474 (9-02)

Table II - Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned
(e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)

1. Title of Derivative Security (Instr. 3)

2. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security

3. Transaction Date (Month/Day/Year)

3A. Deemed Execution Date, if any (Month/Day/Year)

4. Transaction Code (Instr. 8)

5. Number of Derivative Securities Acquired (A) or Disposed of (D) (Instr. 3, 4, and 5)

6. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date (Month/Day/Year)

7. Title and Amount of Underlying Securities (Instr. 3 and 4)

8. Price of Derivative Security (Instr. 5)

9. Number of Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned Following Reported Transaction(s) (Instr. 4)

10. Ownership Form of Derivative Security: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 4)

11. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 4)

Code

V

(A)

(D)

Date Exercisable

Expiration Date

Title

Amount or Number of Shares

Performance Based Restricted

$ 0

03/01/2017

M(2)

35,000

03/01/2017

02/28/2026

Common Stock

35,000

$ 0

0

D

Performance Based Restricted

$ 0

03/01/2017

A

20,000

03/01/2020(3)

02/28/2027

Common Stock

20,000

$ 0

20,000

D

Reporting Owners

Reporting Owner Name / Address	Relationships
	Director	10% Owner	Officer	Other
Horrar Robert O 4000 MERIDIAN BOULEVARD FRANKLIN, TN 37067			Division President

Signatures

Christopher G. Cobb, Attorney in Fact for Robert O Horrar		03/02/2017
**Signature of Reporting Person		Date

Explanation of Responses:

*	If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 4(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 time-vesting restrictions on this award of restricted stock will lapse in 1/3 increments on the first, second and third anniversary of the date of grant.
(2)	The performance objectives governing these shares of Performance Based Restricted Stock have been met, and, accordingly, these shares will now be reported in Table 1 as directly owned shares of Restricted Stock. The time-vesting restrictions lapse in 1/3 increments on the first, second and third anniversary of the date of grant.
(3)	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.

Note: File three copies of this Form, one of which must be manually signed. If space is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedure.

Potential persons who are to respond to the collection of information contained in this form are not required to respond unless the form displays a currently valid OMB number.