Report Shows Healthcare is Michigan’s Largest Private-sector Employer
Posted on March 28, 2018
Provides 603,000 Direct Jobs, Nearly 240,000 in Hospitals Alone
A new report from the Partnership for Michigan’s Health shows that healthcare directly employed more than 603,000 Michigan residents in 2016, making healthcare the largest private-sector employer in the state. The 2018 edition of The Economic Impact of Healthcare in Michigan indicates that hospitals alone employ nearly 240,000 individuals in the state. Direct healthcare workers in Michigan earned more than $36 billion that year in wages, salaries and benefits.
Because direct healthcare employment results in additional jobs that are indirectly related to or induced by healthcare, the state’s healthcare sector supports about 458,000 additional people who earned more than $21 billion in 2016 in wages, salaries and benefits. Together with their employers, those working in the healthcare sector contributed more than $17 billion that year in local, state and federal taxes. These taxes include Social Security, income, motor vehicle, sales, property, corporate and more.
The report was compiled by the Partnership for Michigan’s Health, which consists of the Michigan Health & Hospital Association, the Michigan State Medical Society and the Michigan Osteopathic Association, all based in the greater Lansing area. It uses 2016 data, which is the most recent available.
“In addition to protecting Michiganders’ health and wellbeing, hospitals and health systems provide jobs representing nearly 40 percent of healthcare’s economic activity in Michigan, making them essential to the state’s financial welfare,” said Michigan Health & Hospital Association CEO Brian Peters.
"Michigan physicians pride themselves on providing outstanding quality care to their patients and, clearly, that aim provides a real spark to our state's economy," said Julie L. Novak, CEO of the Michigan State Medical Society. "The economic impact studies demonstrate the true extent of the positive impact Michigan physicians have, serving as job creators and revenue generators within our communities, in addition to delivering outstanding care to the patients we serve."
“The report is an amazing illustration of how healthcare providers contribute to the economic well-being of Michigan. This is a great tool to show how healthcare employers provide wages and tax revenue that benefits communities across the state,” said Kris Nicholoff, executive director of the Michigan Osteopathic Association.
The 13th edition of The Economic Impact of Healthcare in Michigan was compiled using IMPLAN® V.3.1 software to quantify healthcare’s significant economic impact in the state. The data represents direct, indirect1 and induced2 healthcare jobs; taxes paid by those workers and their employers; and salaries, wages and benefits earned. The report is an online, interactive tool that allows users to examine these economic impacts from a statewide perspective and by region, county or congressional district. It is available online.
The Michigan State Medical Society recently released a separate report that was done as part of a nationwide study using 2015 data. The Economic Impact of Physicians in Michigan report is available online.
[1] Indirect jobs are those created to support a larger employer or industry (for example, a laundry that cleans linens for a hospital).
[1] Induced jobs are those created by the spending of people who work in the indirect jobs (for example, a restaurant waiter who serves the laundry workers).
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