Hospitals as Economic Engines

When people talk hospitals, they are usually talking about access to health care. However they should add to that sentence "and access to jobs." Hospitals are often the largest employer in communities along with the school system. In addition, they are often good community partners as philanthropists, volunteers, and sponsors. Cities are realizing that advances in health care and the facilities that support them can build a new economy--and a rich one at that. This week's Economist includes an article on Rochester, MN and the Mayo Clinic. Mayo's revenues in 2006 were $6.3 billion. Add to that the additional dollars spent in hotels, restaurants, etc. and the economic impact is huge. Likewise Cleveland with the Cleveland Clinic and other hospitals grosses revenues in 2006 of $4.4 billion.

It is not just about your average hospital of course. These medical centers have developed specialties that are sought by patients from all over the world. There have been heavy investments in research and development. One only has to think for a moment to come up with other names: M.D. Anderson in Houston of Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York. However other cities are getting into this are big time. Grand Rapids, MI is and has developed a huge health and biohealth complex. My own home town of Birmingham, AL, has a world-class medical center and specialties ranging from orthopedics to genetics. What these complexes offer to communities is an opportunity to change the future. In order for them to grow or even be sustained, there needs to be a well-trained local workforce, a high quality of life, and an opportunity for entrepreneurs to spin off new technologies and start-ups. In other words, start thinking about how we can capitalize our first-rate health care system in this global economy.

Comments

[Dan Bassill]

In some large cities, like Chicago, hospitals are the largest employer in a neighborhood. In others the hospital/university is almost an island of knowledge surrounded by poverty. I've read articles in Chicago papers about the "costs of poverty" and how this is potentially causing hospitals to shut down in some areas where they are most needed.

In the Links section of the T/MC web site I show some examples of hospitals who are reaching out to have a community impact: http://www.tutormentorconnection.org/TMLearningNetwork/LinksLibrary/tabid/560/rrcid/2/rrscid/34/rrpid/1/rrepp/20/Default.aspx

In the attached PDF link I show a "strategic plan" that a hospital or teaching university might adopt to influence the growth of volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs in the area surrounding an inner city hospital, with a goal that these programs reduce negative habits, thus lowering the costs of emergency room poverty, and at the same time, connect kids to people in health care, so more youth aspire to such careers, thus addressing a critical workforce development issue:

http://www.tutormentorexchange.net/Partner/CC/Presentations/TMC_Role/Connecting%20those%20who%20need%20help.pdf

If you know of hospitals and/or teaching universities leading such strategies, I encourage you to write about them and add them to the library on the T/MC site, and the Act Now Wiki.

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