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Summa Health System Reports Economic Impact of $2B

 |  By John Commins  
   October 19, 2010

A study, Contributing to a Healthier Economy in Northeast Ohio: The Impact of Summa Health System, shows that Summa's $2.86 billion in total economic impact to Ohio consisted of $1.2 billion in direct business, which includes institutional spending, employee spending, and spending by visitors to Summa facilities. It also included $1.6 billion in indirect impact—a multiplier effect caused by the re-spending of dollars in the local economy as a result of Summa's presence.

The largest economic impact occurred in Summit County, where the health system accounted for $1.6 billion in business activity and provided wage and salaried employment for nearly 7,000 direct and indirect full time employees in 2009, the report showed.

Summa, which includes six affiliated hospitals, health centers, a health plan, a physician-hospital association, a research group and multiple foundations, also provided significant economic impact across the neighboring counties of Portage ($228 million), Stark ($342 million), Medina ($119 million) and Wayne ($42 million), the report said.

The report, conducted by Tripp Umbach, projected that Summa's total annual business volume impact on Ohio will increase by approximately $2.6 billion by the year 2014, which was attributed to growth in capital expenditures, operating expenses and employment to support the health system's expansion.

Summa also issued its annual Community Benefit report. As the region's largest safety-net provider, Summa delivered $110.8 million in community benefit—including $31 million in the net cost of charity care, and $16.6 million in unpaid costs for Medicaid patients. Summa reported $21.6 million in bad debt, and $12.8 million in subsidized health services, such as senior health, HIV/AIDS care, and dental heath.

See Also:
One of Every Nine Workers Has A Job Because of Hospitals

John Commins is a content specialist and online news editor for HealthLeaders, a Simplify Compliance brand.

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