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Health Care It's an Industry That Helps the Economy As Well As Patients

Posted on: Friday, 5 August 2005, 21:00 CDT

With thousands of Hoosiers seeking hospital care or some other medical service each day, health care holds a position as the fastest growing service industry in Indiana.

In addition to helping make people well, the industry serves as a prime economic engine for many communities, including those in Southern Indiana and Western Kentucky.

In fact, medical facilities are a major attraction when economic development officials try to bring new industries to the Tri-State.

Business and industrial prospects often seem relieved to find an unusually broad range of medical services offered here, said Ken Robinson, executive director of Vision-e, the city economic development office.

"Hospitals are one of the key parts of the equation that companies look for," he said.

Matthew T. Meadors, president and chief executive officer of the Metropolitan Evansville Chamber of Commerce, agreed.

"We're very fortunate to have very high quality services in this community. That helps when we try to attract new industries or when present employers think about expanding," he said.

The Evansville metro area had 18,851 workers in the health care field in 2004, according to statistics from the Indiana Workforce Development office. Statewide, Indiana's health care and social assistance employment totaled 339,534 in metropolitan areas.

Of the health care workers in Evansville, a total of 8,147 employees work for the prime health care providers - St. Mary's and Deaconess health systems and Welborn Clinic. The rest work in nursing homes, private labs and on other medical campuses.

The number of health care workers here is expected to grow by at least 400 next year when the new Deaconess Gateway Hospital opens and hires new employees, said Amy Scheller, a Human Resource Systems specialist with Deaconess.

According to Bob Morr, vice president of the Indiana Hospital and Health Association -- a nonprofit trade organization -- the average annual salary and benefits of a full-time general hospital employee was recently estimated to be $54,120.

It's also estimated that each hospital payroll dollar generates at least another 72 cents in state economic activity, while each hospital job creates .94 other jobs across the state.

Residents within a 60-mile radius of Vanderburgh County seek medical procedures and other treatments that are available in the Evansville area.

Dr. James Porter, a Deaconess pediatrician, internist and vice president of medical affairs, noted there are also quality hospitals in other Tri-State communities.

"But because Evansville is considered a referral center, it gets patients from close to Terre Haute and Bloomington in Indiana, and from near Paducah and Louisville in Kentucky and from southeastern Illinois to Carbondale.

In a relatively short number of years the Evansville area has become known as a major regional medical hub in the Midwest.

Organ transplants and extensive burn care are about all that isn't offered here. Both of those services are typically left to research centers and medical teaching facilities, said Linda White, president and chief executive officer of Deaconess Health System.

"Just about everything else in health care can be found here," she said.

State health officials aren't surprised that health care is the fastest growing service industry or a prime economic engine across Indiana. Morr pointed to an aging population as a primary reason.

"The demand is starting to soar as some baby boomers are beginning to reach the point in their lives where their body parts are wearing out and they're taking more pills," he said.

He described himself as "the advance scout for baby boomers."

"I'm a war baby. I can assure the boomers I'm now taking as many pills as my parents did. When a person gets into their 50s it's an old knee injury that pops up, or the eyes go bad or cholesterol starts building," Morr said.

About 1.5 million Hoosiers, including people 50 to 64 years old, are now entering their highest health care consuming years.

Porter said the growing need for additional hospital beds and new technology led to Deaconess' decision to add the Deaconess Gateway Hospital.

"We were landlocked at our main campus" near Downtown Evansville, he said.

Welborn Clinic also is preparing for the baby boomers by adding a new clinic on Pearl Court, off the Lloyd Expressway West. The clinic also is planning a location on the Deaconess Gateway campus.

The booming health care industry is extremely competitive in Evansville.

Timothy Flesch, president and chief executive officer of the St. Mary's Health System, said he thinks fair competition is good for health care.

"I think it keeps us (providers) sharp and thinking," he said.

"But I think we have to be diligent about the fairness. We need to ask: Are people playing by rules and disclosing interests to make sure they don't malign the competition?" Flesch said.

Source: Evansville Courier & Press

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