A new report by the Georgia Hospital Association (GHA) shows that Piedmont Newnan Hospital in 2007 generated more than $216.3 million in revenue for the local economy. Those numbers will likely only increase once the new nine-story hospital on Poplar Road is completed.
The report said that Piedmont Newnan had direct expenditures of over $87 million dollars in 2007, according to Piedmont Newnan consultant Catharine Montgomery. When combined with an economic multiplier developed by the U.S. Dept. of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis, the total economic impact of those expenditures was more than $216.3 million, she said. This output multiplier considers the “ripple” effect of direct hospital expenditures on other sectors of the economy, such as medical supplies, durable medical equipment and pharmaceuticals. Economic multipliers are used to model the resulting impact of a change in one industry on the “circular flow” of spending within an economy as a whole, Montgomery said.
The GHA 2007 report also noted that Piedmont Newnan provided over $8 million in total uncompensated care (not including unpaid costs of Medicaid and Medicare) and sustained more than 866 full-time jobs throughout the Coweta County area.
“This new report shows the significant positive impact that Piedmont Newnan has on our local economy,” said Piedmont Newnan President and CEO Michael Bass. “We are proud to be able to offer our community high-quality healthcare services, and we look forward to the continued growth and expansion of these services, which will greatly benefit Coweta and surrounding area citizens.”
Montgomery said that while Piedmont Newnan remains a major component of the area’s economic engine, the hospital’s leadership, like the rest of the Georgia hospital community, is concerned about a wide array of economic challenges that have made it increasingly difficult to meet the community’s healthcare needs, including a fast-growing uninsured population and new state legislation. Presently, more than a third of all hospitals in Georgia are operating with negative margins.
“Piedmont Newnan plays an integral part in our community’s quality of life,” said Piedmont Newnan President and CEO Michael Bass. “With the continued support of the community and our elected lawmakers, even in these challenging economic times, we have the ability to do what is necessary to protect our local healthcare system and preserve access to healthcare for all residents of Coweta County.”
Piedmont Healthcare announced earlier this year that the new Piedmont Newnan Hospital project located on the east side of I-85 along Poplar Road is ready to resume after being put on hold during a portion of the recession.
Company spokesperson Nina Day said the benefits of constructing a replacement hospital facility in Coweta County are numerous for both the local economy, as well as the general community. An increase in overall economic impact, local jobs created, as well as increased tax revenue from the on-site medical office buildings and other new community physicians will positively affect Coweta’s economic prosperity, she said.
Hospital construction will come in two phases. Once fully completed in 2020, the hospital complex will include a nine-story, 800,000 square-foot hospital with two bed towers, two medical office buildings at 125,000 square feet each, two parking decks at 245,000 square feet and a central energy plant at 30,000 square feet.
