Health & prosperity: Indiana hospitals are big contributors to the state's economic well-being.

• Author: McKimmie, Kathy
• Position: Health Care

CHANCES ARE YOUR hospital is one of the largest employers, if not the largest employer around. So, starting with the spending power of all those employees and continuing on to charity care, community leadership roles and ongoing community education, hospitals are vital contributors across the state.

St. Vincent Health, headquartered in Indianapolis, claims to be the state's largest hospital system, with 16 hospitals in central Indiana, from Kokomo to Columbus, from Illinois to Ohio. "We encapsulate 45 counties that represent about 3 million of our state's population," says CEO Vince Caponi.

"Overall, we employ 11,300 employees and are the sixth-largest employer in the state of Indiana. It's the federal government, state government, Eli Lilly, IU, Purdue, then us."

Employees in leadership roles are asked--required, in fact--to be very involved with their communities and its organizations, says Caponi. He is active in the Indy Partnership, BioCrossroads and the Indiana Health Industry Forum, among others. "Some are health-related, some education. We readily see the importance of economic development in Indiana."

A healthy impact. A 2003 survey by the American Hospital Association included 115 full-service hospitals and hospital-owned nursing units in Indiana. Together, they employed nearly 115,000 people at an average $54,365 in full-time salaries and benefits. With other operating expenses, these hospitals spent $10 billion in 2003, and using a multiplier, created another nearly $11 billion dollars in the state's economy, a $21 billion total impact.

Hospital employment numbers could easily be higher. "Every hospital in the state could, if it were so inclined, have a 'Now Hiring' banner over their front door," says Bob Morr, vice president of Indiana Hospital & Health Association. About 2,000 health-professional jobs are open in Indiana's hospitals, 1,450 of them in registered nursing, the remainder falling mainly in radiology, respiratory therapy, medical technology and pharmacy.

Displaced workers from manufacturing jobs can enter into a decent paying entry-level job in health care with a two-year degree, he says, and they'll always have a job because the demand from an aging society "will continue to escalate beyond the current output of universities." The brain drain seen elsewhere doesn't happen at the undergraduate level in health care, he adds, where people trained here tend to stay here.

By mission and by law, hospitals provide...