Submitted by Brooke Marshall

In 2015, Crisp Regional Health Services, INC, in Cordele, GA generated more than $173,450,818 in revenue for the local and state economy, according to a recent report by the Georgia Hospital Association, the state’s largest hospital trade association.  The report also found that, during the same time period, Crisp Regional Hospital provided $4,438,239 in uncompensated care while sustaining more than 2,208 full-time jobs throughout Crisp, Dooly, and Wilcox Counties and the rest of the state.

The report revealed that Crisp Regional Health Services, INC had direct expenditures of more than $75,390,454 in 2015.  When combined with an economic multiplier developed by United States Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis, the total economic impact of those expenditures was $173,450,818.  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.

“While Crisp Regional Health Services is well known for its role in meeting the health care needs of the residents of Cordele, it also plays an integral role in protecting our area’s economic health,” said Steven Gautney, CEO of Crisp Regional Hospital.  “We are thankful for the Cordele community’s partnership with their local hospital and will continue to work hard to ensure that area residents have access to the best and safest health care services available.”

While Crisp Regional Health Services, INC 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 health care needs, including a fast-growing uninsured population and inadequate payments from government insurance programs Medicare and Medicaid.  Presently, 42 percent of all hospitals in Georgia are operating with negative margins.

“We’ve made a commitment to every citizen of this community to be there for them 24 hours a day, 365 days and year,” said Gautney.  “Every community needs nearby access to a strong, vibrant health care system that will not only meet the health care needs of its residents, but also attract other industries and businesses to the area.”  It is our mission to provide appropriate, quality care and assistance in maintaining good health in an efficient manner to all who need our services and as near as their home as possible.