Monday, November 23, 2009 East Central Illinois
The Answer Book 2005
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Health care feeds the local economy BY Debra Pressey © 2009 THE NEWS-GAZETTE Champaign-Urbana's many medical services don't just make sick people better. With thousands of employees working throughout Champaign-Urbana for Carle Foundation Hospital, Carle Clinic, Provena Covenant Medical Center, Christie Clinic and two managed-care companies PersonalCare of Illinois and Health Alliance Medical Plans health care has grown into the local community's second-largest industry, says Ed Scharlau, vice chairman of First Busey Corp. in Champaign. It's not unusual for hospitals to be big boosters of their local economies.
In all, hospitals have a $50 billion annual impact on Illinois' economy, the association says. Scharlau, who conducts an annual assessment of the local economy, contends Champaign-Urbana is rich in health care resources. "We have two large hospitals and two large clinics, which is very unusual for a community our size," he said. Here are some of Scharlau's findings this year: The local health care payroll (counting the hospitals, clinics and managed care companies) has grown from $22 million in 1975 to an estimated $350 million this year. Combined employment at these organizations has grown from 4,580 people in 1988 to 6,500 people. The number of patients served on average at the two hospitals and two clinics has doubled from 3,000 per day in 1981 to more than 6,000 patients per day this year. A little more than half of those patients per day come from outside Champaign-Urbana. Bringing them here are some 310 doctors at Carle and Christie clinics alone, and nearly 400 beds at the two hospitals combined. Carle Foundation Hospital also has a Level 1 trauma center and Level III perinatal center both reflecting the top designations for those services. "We look at ourselves as a regional hospital, not just a community hospital," said Dr. James Leonard, chief executive of The Carle Foundation. "It's all about specialty care." The Carle Foundation, which operates Carle hospital and several health care businesses in the local area, has a $95.5 million payroll and 2,476 employees. About five years ago, Carle decided to refocus on what it was offering and become a provider of the kinds of services for which people were being forced to leave the area, Leonard said. "That's why we have the neurosurgeons here in town, the home-grown cardiovascular program, cardiovascular surgeons and invasive cardiologists, bariatric surgery," he said. "It's all about what we can provide to the community so people don't have to go far away." So the local community imports patients rather than exports them. And those patients and visitors from outside the area contribute to the local economy while they're here, by patronizing restaurants, gas stations, hotels and stores, Scharlau said. "So many of these people, they stay overnight, or they've got hours between tests so they go out and buy Illini memorabilia and they buy food and things like that," he added. Provena Covenant's former chief executive, Mark Wiener, who resigned in July, said that hospital is proud to provide resources for both the community's medical and financial well-being. "We provide almost $66 million in financial resources (payroll and benefits) to our employees, almost $3 million in charity care for those who need assistance, as well as purchasing over $9 million in goods and services annually," he said. Christie Clinic's chief financial officer, Jeff James, said it's been the growth of the local medical providers that has helped drive the growth of local health insurers. "If it weren't for the providers, you wouldn't have the insurers here," he said. "We drive other industries." James said about half of Christie Clinic's patients come from outside Champaign-Urbana, and the presence of the main clinic in downtown Champaign unquestionably supports the downtown business district. "We have several hundred employees downtown," he said. "We see several thousands of patients a month downtown." Carle Clinic also draws patients from as far away as Kankakee and Cook County, though the majority of its patients come from Champaign, Vermilion and McLean counties, said Carol Koenecke-Grant, the clinic's vice president of marketing and planning. |
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