HANYS touts hospitals’ economic impact

A recent Healthcare Association of New York State report found hospitals and health systems are responsible for 686,610 jobs and generate $108 billion, or 9.4 percent, in economic activity statewide each year.

The report notes the Hudson Valley contributed $8,297,770,000 to the state”™s bottom line in 2009.
“Hospitals clearly serve as economic anchors of New York state,” said Daniel Sisto, president of HANYS. “It is important to realize the full impact our local health care facilities have on the communities in which we live. Not only do they always stand ready to aid us in times of crisis, they sustain and support the livelihoods of thousands of local families. Their contributions to the state”™s economy cannot be overstated and must be protected.  Over just the last ten years, 30 hospitals have closed across the state. Few communities can withstand such a loss.”

According to “New York State Hospitals: Transforming Lives and Communities,” hospitals treated 2.6 million inpatients and 47.1 million outpatients, including 7.9 million emergency room visits; provide $1.9 billion in uncompensated care and an array of health and service programs, many at no charge to their communities; and deliver more than 262,000 babies in 2009.

New York”™s 11 academic medical centers and 95 teaching hospitals train thousands of doctors ”“ approximately 15 percent of the nation”™s medical residents ”“ advance state-of-the-art medicine and provide free care to New York”™s most vulnerable residents. Research programs and grants at hospitals statewide draw significant funding from sources outside the community as well as outside the state.

Sisto said New York”™s health care providers have endured more than $5.3 billion in cuts over the last three years. Faced with a state budget deficit that could grow as large as $10 billion in the upcoming fiscal year, there is grave concern that additional hospital closings and significant job losses will occur across the state if the health care system is not fundamentally redesigned. To aid policy makers, HANYS has prepared detailed recommendations for redesigning New York”™s Medicaid program to reduce health care costs and improve patient care.
“It is critical that our state”™s legislators, members of Congress, and community leaders recognize that hospitals are instrumental in supporting state and local economies, and that it is necessary to invest in and protect our state”™s health care system,” Sisto said.