Study adds up economic impact of hospitals across South Carolina

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - Hospitals across South Carolina employ hundreds of thousands and generate billions of dollars annually in South Carolina’s economy, a new study found.

The South Carolina Hospital Association study found that hospitals for 203,000 jobs and bring in more than $36 billion.

As the state’s population continues to boom with new people relocating from other states, job growth in healthcare and social assistance is expected to increase by 17.2% over the next decade, more than any other industry, the study found.

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The South Carolina Hospital Association’s report was designed to document the effects of hospitals on South Carolina’s health, economy, and quality of life.

South Carolina Hospital Association Vice President Schipp Ames says when you think of the economic impact of South Carolina’s hospitals, you may only think about direct employees like doctors, nurses and others who work for the hospital. That makes up over $13 billion in income and salaries for healthcare workers in the state.

But Ames says there is also an indirect economic effect.

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“You also have to think about all the vendors across the hospital supply chain, all the organizations that hospitals do business with, from IT to landscaping, to those restaurants and catering businesses that pop up right there around the hospital to feed this army of employees that are at the hospital so there’s an indirect effect,” he says.

The Lowcountry has multiple facilities including MUSC Health, Roper St. Francis Healthcare and Trident Medical Center, all of which create growth through jobs, both directly and indirectly.

Ames says healthcare options affect how employers think about taking their businesses here. He says high-quality healthcare is often a factor in people choosing where they want to live when they move.