Lakes Regional Healthcare generates 491 jobs that add $21.3 million to Dickinson County’s economy, according to the latest study by the Iowa Hospital Association (IHA). In addition, Lakes Regional Healthcare employees by themselves spend $7.1 million on retail sales and contribute $429,000 in state sales tax revenue.
“We are honored to provide the Iowa Great Lakes community with essential health care services – primary care, surgery, emergency care, and more,” said Lakes Regional Healthcare President and CEO Jason Harrington. “It’s nice to know we also benefit the community economically through retail sales and state sales tax revenue as the IHA’s study demonstrated. We are also proud to provide community benefits in the form of charity care and free and reduced-cost services like immunizations and health screenings and the $1 million of uncompensated care we provide each year.”
The IHA study examined the jobs, income, retail sales and sales tax produced by hospitals and the rest of the state’s health care sector. The study was compiled from hospital-submitted data on the American Hospital Association’s Annual Survey of Hospitals and with software that other industries have used to determine their economic impact.
The study found that Iowa hospitals directly employ over 76,000 people and create another 144,000 jobs outside the hospital sector. As an income source, hospitals provide over $5 billion in salaries and benefits and generate another $8.6 billion through other jobs that depend on hospitals.
In all, Iowa’s health care sector, which includes offices of physicians, dentists and other health practitioners, nursing home and residential care, other medical and health services and pharmacies, contributes over $19 billion to the state economy while directly and indirectly providing over 344,000 jobs, or about one-fifth of the state’s total non-farm employment.
