McDuffie Regional Medical
Center contributed more than $47
million - including $15.7 million
in direct spending - to the local
economy in 2002, according to
recent report by the Georgia
Hospital Association.
"McDuffie Regional Medical
Center has an enormous positive
financial impact on the local
economy which creates an
unbelievable amount of stress
on the hospital's leadership," said
hospital CEO Doug Keir. "We
are pleased to be able to currently
support the economic viability of
our region and improve the lives
of hundreds of citizens in the
communities we serve."
Across Georgia, hospitals
contributed $23.9 billion to the
economy, including $10.6 billion
in direct expenditures, according
to the report.
Officials arrived at the total
contribution numbers using an
output multiplier developed by
the United States Department of
Commerce's Bureau of Economic
Analysis. The output multiplier
considers the "ripple" effect of
direct hospital expenditures on
other sectors of the economy,
such as medical suppliers,
durable medical equipment,
and pharmaceuticals. Economic
multipliers are used to model
the resulting impact of a change
in autonomous spending in one
industry on the "circular flow"
of spending within an economy
as a whole.
The report also measured the
effect of a household earnings
multiplier, which adds over $11.9
million to the local economy
through McDuffie Regional
Medical Center. As a whole, the
Georgia hospital industry had an
$8.1 billion impact in household
earnings to the state's economy,
bringing the total statewide
impact to $32 billion. The
household earnings multiplier
measures the increased economic
contributions from households
employed directly or indirectly
by hospitals through daily living
expenditures.
The study also found that
hospitals and health systems
directly employ more than
130,000 people in the state and
have a payroll that exceeds $3
billion annually.
McDuffie Regional Medical
Center employs 300 people.
Indirectly, more than 322,000
full-time jobs are sustained
through Georgia hospitals from
ancillary health services that
contract with or provide services
to these facilities, such as
accountants, food suppliers, and
medical equipment suppliers.
"In many communities,
hospitals are the largest employers
and most signifi cant creators and
sustainers of jobs and income,"
said GHA President Joseph A.
Parker.
With more than 50 percent
of Georgia's acute care hospitals
currently losing money in
providing care, Mr. Parker called
for increased support for Georgia's
local hospitals.
"If health care policies do
not support indigent care, if
purchasers such as Medicaid,
Medicare and managed care
organizations continue to
reduce payments, and if local
communities do not fi nancially
support services provided to
residents, then some hospitals
may be forced to shut their doors,"
Mr. Parker said.
Mr. Keir echoed that call for
help, citing the need for increased
federal, state, and local financial
support of hospitals and health
systems if MRMC is to continue
providing healthcare services.
"In 2002, McDuffi e Regional
Medical Center provided $1.6
million in uncompensated care,
which includes indigent care,
charity care, other free care and
bad debt write-offs," he said.
