Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC) has now surpassed the $1.8 billion mark in local and state economic impact according to a recent report by the Georgia Hospital Association (GHA), the state’s largest hospital trade association.

The report found that, in 2017, NGMC generated $1,883,230,980 in revenue for the local and state economy; provided more than $56 million in uncompensated care; and sustained more than 14,000 full-time jobs throughout the region and state – in addition to the more than 8,000 employees directly employed by Northeast Georgia Health System (NGHS). The more than $56 million in uncompensated care, which includes indigent and charity care and bad debt, doesn’t take into account $6.7 million NGMC provided in community outreach such as free screenings and health education.

The report revealed that NGMC had direct expenditures of more than $776 million in 2017. When combined with an economic multiplier developed by the United States Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis, the total economic impact of those expenditures was more than $1.8 billion. 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 impact of a change in one industry on the “circular flow” of spending within an economy as a whole.

“NGHS is proud to be a positive economic anchor in Northeast Georgia,” said Carol Burrell, president and CEO of NGHS. “As a thriving health system, we remain committed to making responsible financial decisions that ensure the future success of our organization and allow us to continue improving the health of our community for years to come.”

The figures in the GHA study only reflect the economic impact of hospital expenditures and do not include the impact of other services, such as physician offices and long-term care facilities, provided by NGHS.