Hospitals put millions into the local economy

Redmond Regional Medical Center and Floyd Medical Center list wages and benefits in excess of $200 million.

Redmond and FMC list wages and benefits in excess of $200 million.

Rome’s medical community has long been recognized as an economic engine that helps drive the local economy. And a new report from the Georgia Hospital Association notes the impact of the health care delivery system on the statewide economy as well.

Data from 2015 shows Georgia’s hospitals pumped nearly $47.8 billion into the state’s economy. The report also revealed that hospitals supplied more than 141,000 full-time jobs and indirectly created nearly 344,000 jobs in the state.

Locally, Floyd Medical Center is reporting an economic impact totaling $629,009,905. Polk Medical Center is reporting an economic impact of $27,728,667.

Redmond Regional Medical Center did not have an economic impact number per se, but does report total salary, wages and benefits amounting to $68,141,081, along with capital investments of $7,363,412 in the hospital. Redmond also paid $10,112,466 in taxes in 2015.

Floyd Medical Center reported wages and benefits adding up to $132,622,590.

“Georgia hospitals are making a positive difference in people’s lives, both at the bedside and in their communities economically,” said GHA President and CEO Earl Rogers. “In communities throughout the state, hospitals are among the largest employers and are a key component of the infrastructure necessary to attract business to those areas.”

FMC has 2,743 employees.

“We are the county’s largest employer; and our payroll, which gets spent locally, the services we purchase locally, and the free and the discounted care that we deliver are all of tremendous value to our community,” said FMC President and CEO Kurt Kurt Stuenkel

Redmond Regional Medical Center, with more than 1,300 employees and a payroll with benefits adding up to more than $68 million, is a major economic contributor to the economy of Rome and Floyd County.

Stuenkel. “The Floyd health care system has a tremendous economic and business impact on our region and, honestly, it’s an aspect of what we provide that is often overlooked.”

Stuenkel also said he is proud of the large role FMC plays in the regional economy with more than 3,000 employees and affiliated physicians and associated medical providers.

Redmond had 1,328 employees in 2015.

“We’re proud to be a member of this community and we’re proud of the economic impact we provide,” said Redmond CEO John Quinlivan. “We provide employment for a lot of folks, good jobs with good benefits, and have a wonderful staff that is reflective of the community where we live.”

PMC reported 157 fulltime employees for calendar year 2015.

“When the Cedar- town-Polk Hospital Au- thority chose Floyd to manage Polk Medical Center, one of the determining factors was keeping health care dollars in Polk County, rather than having them go to another state,” said Matt Gorman, a PMC administrator. “This GHA report is an excellent indicator of the growing impact Polk John Quinlivan

Medical Center has on the local and state economies.”

“These are the kind of jobs that are truly indispensable to our communities and state,” Rogers said.

While those numbers specifically deal with hospitals, any look at the impact of the medical community in Rome also needs to consider Harbin Clinic, one of the largest multispecialty clinics across the Southeast. Harbin employs some 1,300 people. In 2015, the clinic provided care to more than 1.2 millionpatients.

More specific financial data was not available from Harbin.

In spite of their role in the state economy, many hospitals continue to battle serious fiscal challenges that have resulted in reduced services and employee cutbacks.

In the last four years, six Georgia hospitals have closed, and others — Doug Walker / Rome News-Tribune

Floyd Medical Center reported an economic impact of more than $629 million on Rome and Floyd County in 2015.

especially those in rural areas — are struggling to keep their doors open. According to the most recent Georgia Department of Community Health Hospital Financial Survey, 42 percent of all hospitals in Georgia had negative total margins in 2015, while 68 percent of rural hospitals in the state lost money that year.

While politicians in Atlanta and Washington argue over access to medical insurance and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, explosive growth in the amount of uncompensated care continues Doug Walker / Rome News-Tribune

to be a drain on local hospitals. According to the GHA study, in 2015 Georgia hospitals absorbed more than $1.74 billion in costs for care that was delivered but not paid for.

“Throughout Georgia, hospitals are the only source of medical care for most uninsured residents,” Rogers explained. “Add to that a growing number of residents who actually have insurance but cannot pay their high insurance deductibles, and hospitals end up absorbing even more losses. These dynamics are not sustainable long term.”

A 2015 study by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured revealed that Georgia had the second highest percentage of uninsured residents in the country at 14 percent. Only Texas, with 16 percent, had a higher uninsured rate.

The same report shows that Medicaid reimburses Georgia hospitals, on average, 87 cents on the dollar of the actual cost to provide care to Medicaid recipients.

Both Redmond and FMC reported tens of millions in unreimbursed care to residents of Northwest Georgia and Northeast Alabama.

“The financial pressure that Georgia hospitals face is greater than ever,” Rogers said. “Hospitals have a commitment to be there for their communities 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”