Columbia Memorial has become the engine of the local economy, pumping in more than $193,442,000 annually, according to figures
compiled in 2008 and 2009 (2010 figures are not yet available) by the Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS) and the hospital.
Columbia Memorial increases commerce through the thousands of people it employs, purchase of supplies, and hiring local contractors. In addition, employees spend their salaries and pay state and local sales taxes, further impacting the economy.
This is in addition to the positive impact the hospital has providing expert medicine for the whole family in Greene, Columbia and Northern Dutchess counties: birthing babies, caring for the aged, ensuring public safety during disasters, promoting healthy lifestyles, addressing emergencies, and providing end of life care and comfort.
"The hospital treats more than 34,000 patients in our emergency department every year, delivers 500 babies, and provides more than 180,000 physician office visits. Our annual operating budget is over $130,000,000 and we employ more than 1,400 individuals who reside in our area,"said CEO Jane Ehrlich.
Ehrlich said that the hospital has more than 200 physicians on staff, and provides more than $8,000,000 in free care every year to those in need.
"We've invested more than $60 million in new facilities and equipment in the last ten years including new surgical instrumentation,
patient information systems, and medical imaging technologies," she said.
The hospital's capital spending in the 2009 generated approximately $10,557,000 for the local economy.
Columbia Memorial has a total payroll of close to $84,726,600.
"Hospital employees use their wages to purchase goods and services, creating jobs and income for other businesses," said Ehrlich.
The employees of the hospital and the jobs supported indirectly by the facility paid $3,884,000 in state and local income taxes for the
periods examined in the HANYS/hospital report. Locally, the sales tax impact of spending locally was $2,251,000; and $2,373,000 was state sales tax.
"As the hospital continues to grow, refurbishing older areas of the hospital and building new facilities, we affect everyone from the local convenience store down the street, to the insurance agents whose policies back the contractors who work on these capital projects," said Ehrlich.
Construction projects to improve healthcare delivery currently underway (refurbishing the 5th and 6th floors of the hospital) total approximately $4.5 million dollars.The report also cited the impact that hospital visitors have on the local economy when they use local community amenities such as restaurants and motels.
HANYS calculated these figures with the Regional Input-Output Modeling System II (RIMS II) developed by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, and acquired other data from hospital annual reports.
