Houston Healthcare Generates Over $461 Million for Local and State Economy in 2011

In 2011, Houston Healthcare generated more than $460 million in revenue for the local and state economy, according to a recent report by the Georgia Hospital Association (GHA), the state’s largest hospital trade association. The report also found that, during the same time period, Houston Healthcare provided approximately $21.8 million in uncompensated care while sustaining more than 4,414 full-time jobs throughout Houston County and the rest of the state.

The report revealed that Houston Healthcare had direct expenditures of more than $201.6 million in 2011. When combined with an economic multiplier developed by the United States Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis, the total economic impact of those expenditures was more than $461 million. This output multiplier considers the “ripple” effect of direct hospital expenditures on other sectors of the economy, such as medical supplies, durable medical equipment and pharmaceuticals. Economic multipliers are used to model the resulting impact of a change in one industry on the “circular flow” of spending within an economy as a whole.

“This new report shows that, even in uncertain economic times, Houston Healthcare has an enormous positive impact on our local economy,” said Cary Martin, Chief Executive Officer for Houston Healthcare. “We are thankful to the citizens of Houston County and the communities we serve for their unwavering support of our health system. We continue to work hard to ensure that those in our community have access to health care services that are second to none in quality and affordability.”

While Houston Healthcare remains a major component of the area’s economic engine, the hospital’s leadership, like the rest of the Georgia hospital community, is concerned about a wide array of economic challenges that have made it increasingly difficult to meet the community’s diverse health care needs, including continued cuts in Medicare and Medicaid payments and a fast-growing uninsured population. Presently, more than a third of all hospitals in Georgia are operating with negative margins.

Overall, Georgia hospitals contributed more than $38.6 billion to the state’s economy. “In lean economic times, hundreds of thousands of Georgia families can rely on their local, community hospitals not only for excellent round-the-clock medical care, but for economic stability,” said GHA President Earl Rogers. “We’re proud of the fact that, in many communities throughout Georgia, hospitals are among the largest employers and are the source of many well-paying jobs close to home.”

“Our local health care system is crucial and vital to the community as the primary guardian of health services,” stated Martin. “It is a key building block for everything else in our community, including education and economic vitality. Even with numerous challenges facing healthcare, we will continue to preserve access to health care for every resident of Houston County and the communities we serve.”

HHJ News