HARI: Hospitals major economic engine in R.I.

CRANSTON – Hospitals are a major economic engine in the Ocean State, generating 41,000 jobs and $6.9 billion in economic contributions, according to the Hospital Association of Rhode Island’s annual economic impact report released Tuesday.

The association, which based its figures on 2013 data, said hospitals employed approximately 20,000 health care professionals and their indirect contributions to the economy created 21,400 additional jobs.

Hospitals create a ripple effect throughout the local economy, according to the report. Besides paying approximately $1.8 billion in wages, hospitals boost the local economy by generating $2.8 billion through goods and services purchased. Hospitals also dedicated $167 million to improving facilities and upgrading technology, HARI said.

“Our industry is vital to the state’s economy and health,” Michael R. Souza, president, Hospital Association of Rhode Island, said in a statement. “Hospitals support one in 10 jobs in Rhode Island. We’re an economic engine that is providing Rhode Islanders with well-paying jobs and supporting local business. State leaders must make the appropriate investments to secure our role in the state’s economy.”

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The report was produced in collaboration with the Healthcare Association of New York State using data reported annually by hospitals to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

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3 COMMENTS

  1. The one thing we need to do is to make sure that every Rhode Islander has access to great primary care in every neighborhood and every community.

    As we do that, we ought to be able to shrink the hospital system. We can shrink the hospital system by one or two hospitals today. And, if we don’t do it, all we’re doing is perpetuating a costly infrastructure that doesn’t work.
    http://convergenceri.com/stories/The-freewheeling-Dr-Michael-Fine,1309?

    “When you build out the full delivery system of one neighborhood health station for every community of 12,000 people, it is very likely that we can reduce the total number of hospital beds by 40 to 45 percent. That means dropping [the number of hospital beds in Rhode Island] by about 900 beds.

    {“That may sound revolutionary. But, if you think about what neighborhood health stations are, they are basically community hospitals without walls. What we’re doing is getting rid of an old technology that is expensive and doesn’t work well and replacing it with a cutting edge technology that brings every Rhode Islander into world class care – as they need it, where they need it, when they need it, in a way that builds community instead of building profit for others.”

  2. I thought your readers would be interested in this counter perspective from Dr. Michael FIne, as reported in ConvergenceRI.com

    “The one thing we need to do is to make sure that every Rhode Islander has access to great primary care in every neighborhood and every community.
    “As we do that, we ought to be able to shrink the hospital system. We can shrink the hospital system by one or two hospitals today. And, if we don’t do it, all we’re doing is perpetuating a costly infrastructure that doesn’t work.
    “When you build out the full delivery system of one neighborhood health station for every community of 12,000 people, it is very likely that we can reduce the total number of hospital beds by 40 to 45 percent. That means dropping [the number of hospital beds in Rhode Island] by about 900 beds.”
    Dr. Michael Fine, convergenceri.com