Hospitals touch the lives of every Mississippian. Our facilities, our equipment, and our staff are dedicated to healing and wellness.

In addition to providing quality, compassionate health care, Mississippi hospitals play a vital role in our state and local economies. In fact, hospitals are an important part of the solution to improving Mississippi’s present and future economic challenges.

Throughout the recession, hospitals have served as a firm foundation for our economy:

• Mississippi hospital employment remained stable, while manufacturing and other sectors shed jobs in record numbers.

• Mississippi hospitals employed 60,143 full-time employees—5.7 percent of statewide total employment. Hospitals also created an additional 34,557 jobs outside of their facilities.

• Mississippi hospitals’ payrolls and benefits totaled $3.2 billion. The vast majority of hospitals are among the top three employers in their communities. Thirty-six hospitals have more than 500 employees. The total economic impact of hospital payroll spending is $5.8 billion.

As the 2012 Legislative Session convenes, lawmakers will be faced with critical decisions regarding the state budget and health care. The decisions our legislators make regarding health care funding are further complicated by yet-to-be-made decisions at the federal level. In January, the Mississippi Hospital Association will release our economic impact report, Critical Care: The Economic Impact of Hospitals on Mississippi’s Economy, to assist legislators in making the tough decisions ahead regarding health care funding and to demonstrate the economic impact of the hospitals in our state, in each Senate district, and in each House district.

Every Mississippi hospital’s financial viability depends on three revenue sources: private insurance, Medicare, and Medicaid. The economic impact of one of these three sources, Medicaid, is especially important for lawmakers to understand. On average, Medicaid comprises 16 percent of Mississippi hospitals’ revenues and expenses. Although the Medicaid program is not an economic development program, its impact on Mississippi’s economy cannot be overlooked. Consider the following:

• Medicaid has a $917,146,000 payroll expenditure impact.

• Almost 15,000 full-time Mississippi employees are attributed to Medicaid

• Medicaid has a total economic impact in the state of $1,867,654,000.

The hospital community has a long history of cooperation with the state, which has been essential to maintaining the state’s health care safety net. We hope that this resource will show legislators and the public both the critical care our hospitals provide each year in our communities 24 hours a day, 365 days a year—and how critical hospitals are in caring for our state’s economy. DBJ

Sam Cameron is President and CEO of the Mississippi Hospital Association.