AHA says hospitals have $18 billion state impact

Arkansas hospitals had an estimated $18.045 billion impact on the state’s economy in 2022, according to the Arkansas Hospital Association’s “Economic Impact Report 2024.”

The report found that hospitals provided or created 94,400 jobs. That includes 48,200 individuals employed and a total payroll of more than $4.3 billion. Those employees’ incomes generated another $8.1 billion in economic activity, creating another 46,200 jobs. The report said that 12% of Arkansas workers are employed by hospitals or other health care organizations.

Hospitals spent almost $5 billion on goods and services, generating about $9.3 billon in economic output. They also spent more than $371 million on buildings and equipment, for a capital spending impact of more than $693 million. Hospitals also provided $466 million in charity care.

The report found that in 2022, Arkansas hospitals provided services for 351,584 inpatient visits, 4,761,464 outpatient visits and procedures, 1,446,356 emergency department visits, and 33,726 births. The report said that 17,971 Arkansans sought inpatient or outpatient care each day in 2022.

Of those births, 56% were reimbursed using Medicaid funding. The report cites the Health Care Cost Institute in saying that Medicaid reimbursed providers an average of 56% less than employer-sponsored insurance did.

“While hospitals in urban areas are able to offset the low reimbursement of Medicaid births with employer-sponsored reimbursement, rural areas cannot sustain the high rates of Medicaid births at the current reimbursement rates,” the report said.

The report said that 35 hospitals are licensed and staffed to provide birthing services. Forty-nine counties do not have a birthing hospital. Mothers in Arkansas travel an average of 17 minutes for birthing services, but some women in rural areas travel up to 65 minutes.

The AHA is composed of 105 members in 55 counties. Those include 70 general acute care community hospitals, of which 27 are critical access hospitals, meaning they are located in rural areas and provide limited services while receiving increased Medicare reimbursements.

The AHA’s membership also includes four rural emergency hospitals, four long-term care hospitals, 11 psychiatric hospitals, six rehabilitation hospitals, two Veterans Administration hospitals, two pediatric hospitals, five health care services organizations, and one women’s hospital.

Sixty-three percent of the state’s hospitals are charitable, not-for-profit organizations, while 25% are private, for-profit providers, and 12% are public hospitals.

Forty counties are served by one hospital. Twenty counties are served by a single critical access hospital.

Fifty-seven hospitals are designated trauma centers, with six of them attaining the highest Level 1 designation. The report said the system has lowered the state’s preventable death rate by almost one-half and saved more than $180 million per year.

The report said that hospitals provide other services, such as health promotion outreach, early evaluation for COVID-19, mobile disease screening, and services addressing food insecurity issues.