In addition to enhancing the health and wellbeing of the communities it serves, Phoebe continues to have a tremendous, positive economic impact. In 2021, Phoebe’s hospitals generated more than $1.8 billion in revenue for the local and state economy, according to a recently-released report by the Georgia Hospital Association (GHA), the state’s largest hospital trade association. During the same period, the Phoebe’s hospitals supported 8,350 full-time jobs in addition to the thousands of people who work at the hospitals. Those numbers do not take into account the additional impact of Phoebe’s outpatient clinics and other ancillary services.

“Our top priority every day at Phoebe is to offer outstanding care and service to every patient we have the privilege of serving. We are proud that we offer the region’s most comprehensive, quality healthcare services. We are also proud that, even during the pandemic, we continued to be southwest Georgia’s most vital economic engine,” said Scott Steiner, President & CEO, Phoebe Putney Health System. 

In 2021, Phoebe’s hospitals had total expenditures of more than $789 million. When combined with the economic multiplier developed by the United States Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis, the total economic impact of those expenditures was more than $1.8 billion. 

This output multiplier considers the “ripple” effect of direct hospital expenditures on other sectors of the economy, such as medical supplies, durable medical equipment and pharmaceuticals. Economic multipliers are used to model the resulting impact of a change in one industry on the “circular flow” of spending within an economy as a whole. 

The Phoebe Putney Health System hospitals included in the report are Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital, Phoebe Sumter Medical Center and Phoebe Worth Medical Center. Below is the economic impact each of the hospitals generated in 2021, according to GHA: 

• Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital, located in Albany, generated a total economic impact of more than $1.5 billion on $673 million in total expenditures. The hospital supported 7,051 full-time jobs in the Dougherty County area and across the state.

• Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus generated a total economic impact of more than $221 million on $97 million in total expenditures. The hospital supported 1,016 full-time jobs in Sumter County and across the state.

• Phoebe Worth Medical Center in Sylvester generated a total economic impact of $41 million on $18 million in total expenditures. The hospital supported 283 full-time jobs in Worth County area and across the state. 

Phoebe continues to be the largest employer in southwest Georgia, and Steiner said he is excited that the health system’s impact on the regional economy continues to grow. “We have two major building projects underway on our main campus that are not only creating short-term construction jobs, but they will also result in long-term job growth at Phoebe and will have a lasting impact on our economy by preparing more people for jobs in the healthcare workforce,” Steiner said. “The projects have also already generated interest in additional potential development in the neighborhood around our main campus, and we look forward to seeing what comes to fruition.”

Those major construction projects include the Phoebe Living & Learning Community and a Trauma & Critical Care Tower. The Living & Learning Community is scheduled for completion in June 2024. It will become the new home of an expanded Albany Technical College nursing program and will include apartments for nursing students. The new tower is scheduled to open in July 2024 and will include a new emergency and trauma center, neonatal intensive care unit and adult intensive care unit.