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Report: Delaware Valley Hospitals Strengthen Region’s Economy
Hospitals contribute $26.2 billion,account for one in nine jobs
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Thursday, April 29, 2010
Despite the long recession and weak, jobless recovery, Delaware Valley hospitals continue to serve as primary economic drivers for the five-county region of southeastern Pennsylvania, according to a new report from the Delaware Valley Healthcare Council of HAP (DVHC). Echoing the statewide findings released today by The Hospital & Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP), the DVHC report shows that in fiscal year 2008 Delaware Valley hospitals provided nearly 206,000 hospital and hospital service-related jobs—nearly one out of every nine jobs in the region. Overall, Delaware Valley hospitals contributed $26.2 billion to the economy—representing a $2 billion increase over 2007. “Hospital employment is holding steady at a time when unemployment for the region is at the highest level in the last 20 years,” said Kenneth Braithwaite, DVHC’s regional executive. “In addition to serving as economic anchors for their communities, hospitals are centers of innovation, education, and research that fuel the growth of education and life sciences sectors so crucial to this region,” said Braithwaite. Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry statistics show that while non-farm employment in the Philadelphia metropolitan region decreased by 3.5 percent between June 2008 and June 2009, direct hospital employment remained stable during the same time period. According to the Milken Institute’s May 2009 assessment of 11 top life sciences clusters nationwide, Greater Philadelphia ranks highest in terms of medical degrees awarded. In 2008, hospitals helped attract nearly $688 million in National Institutes of Health funding for clinical research in the five-county region and about $388 million in venture capital for biotechnology and medical devices in the Greater Philadelphia area. Braithwaite continues to urge state and federal lawmakers to act now to sustain hospital jobs and services, especially medical care provided to low-income patients with government-sponsored Medical Assistance health insurance. During the recession in 2008 and 2009, Medical Assistance enrollment in southeastern Pennsylvania climbed nearly 20 percent, compared to an 11-percent increase over the previous four years. “Medical Assistance budgets must be increased, not cut,” said Braithwaite, who underscored the importance of modernizing Medical Assistance hospital payments to relieve chronic underfunding and eliminate reductions in the proposed 2010-2011 state budget. Braithwaite also called for the extension of the increase in the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage, or FMAP, included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. “Hospitals need our support as they serve all who seek help, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, while continuing to cope financially with the aftermath of the great recession,” said Braithwaite. In 2008 Delaware Valley hospitals cared for more than a million patients through more than 690,000 hospital admissions, 3.8 million days of patient care, and 1.8 million emergency department visits. The DVHC report,
Fiscal Year 2008 Results – Risk Factors for 2009 and Beyond
, is available online. The report updates DVHC studies released in 2008 and includes data from the U.S. Department of Commerce, Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry, Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare, Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council, and DVHC member hospitals and health systems.
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2010 News Releases
