Hospital spurs jobs, revenue

Courtesy of The Toccoa Record.

In 2005, Stephens County Hospital generated more than $93 million in revenue for the local 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, Stephens County Hospital provided more than $3 million in uncompensated care while sustaining more than 1,250 full-time jobs throughout Toccoa and the rest of the state. "The data in this report shows the enormous positive economic impact Stephens County Hopsital has on Toccoa and the surrounding area," hospital administrator Ed Gambrell said. "We are the largest employer in the county and a key building component in education and economic vitality," he said. "Our primary mission is our commitment to provide care 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. But our ability to do so is being compromised when, in many cases, we're being paid less than what it actually costs to treat a patient. The reimbursement from the State for treatment of Medicaid patients is 84 cents for every dollar spent - not charged." Gambrell said.

Stephens County Hospital has remained fiscally sound at a time when more than one-third of all hospitals in Georgia are losing money and many rural hospitals are struggling just to stay open due to the continued cuts in Medicare and Medicaid payments and the fast-growing uninsured population. The U.S. Census Bureau reports 1.7 million uninsured Georgians. Only five states in the country have a larger uninsured population. According to Gambrell, state lawmakers must work to protect the state's health care system with the same fervor that they show with other initiatives like education and public utilities. "Our local health care system is indispensable," he said.