DES MOINES, March 10, 2011: Wayne County Hospital generates 211 jobs that add $11,152,834 to Wayne County and the surrounding area economy, according to the latest study by the Iowa Hospital Association. In addition, Wayne County Hospital employees by themselves spend $1,781,611 on retail sales and contribute $106,896 in state sales tax revenue. “Wayne County Hospital has played a key role in our economic health for over 50 years,” said Board Chair Gary Runyon, DVM. “We are fortunate to have a growing organization that continues to provide unprecedented high quality care for our community.”
The IHA study examined the jobs, income, retail sales and sales tax produced by hospitals and the rest of the state’s health care sector. The study was compiled from hospital-submitted data on the American Hospital Association’s Annual Survey of Hospitals and with software that other industries have used to determine their economic impact.
The study found that Iowa hospitals directly employ 70,484 people and create another 67,247 jobs outside the hospital sector. As an income source, hospitals provide $3.8 billion in salaries and benefits and generate another $2.3 billion through other jobs that depend on hospitals.
In all, Iowa’s health care sector, which includes employed clinicians, long-term care services and assisted living centers, pharmacies and other medical and health services, directly and indirectly provides 329,793 Iowa jobs, or more than one-fifth of the state’s total employment.
“Just as no one provides the services and community benefits found at our hospitals, there is also no substitute for the jobs hospitals provide and create,” said Kirk Norris, IHA president/CEO. “Iowa hospitals are at the foundation of Iowa’s economy and remain major employers and business partners in all parts of the state. Iowa’s economic security is directly tied to having one of the finest health care systems in the nation.”