In 2007, Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Albany, Ga., generated more than $816 million in revenue for the local economy according to a recent report by the Georgia Hospital Association, the state's largest hospital trade association. The report also found that, during the same time period, Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital provided approximately $36 million in uncompensated care while sustaining more than 3,458 part- and full-time jobs throughout Albany and the rest of the state.

The report revealed that Phoebe had direct expenditures of more than $330 million in 2007. When combined with the an economic multiplier developed by the United States Department of Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis, the total economic impact of those expenditures was more $816 million. 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.

"This new report shows that, even in these difficult economic times, Phoebe has an enormous positive impact on our local economy," said Joel Wernick, CEO of Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital. "We thank the community's unwavering support for Phoebe and will continue to work hard to ensure that the citizens of this community have access to health care services that are second to none in quality and affordability."

While Phoebe remains a major component of the area's economic engine, the hospital's leadership, like the rest of the Georgia hospital community, is concerned about a wide array of economic challenges that have made it increasingly difficult to meet the community's health care needs, including continued cuts in Medicare and Medicaid payments and a fast-growing uninsured population. Presently, more than a third of all hospitals in Georgia are operating with negative margins.

According to Wernick, state lawmakers must work to protect the state's health care system with the same fervor that they do other initiatives like education and public utilities.

"Our local health care system is instrumental to the health of our local economy, as well as to the physical health of the community," said Wernick. "It is a key component to sustaining the economic vitality in our community, as is education and business. It is our hope that, even in these challenging economic times, that our elected lawmakers will do what is necessary to protect our local health care system and preserve access to health care for every resident of Albany and the region."