Researchers at the University of Florida have released an economic impact study which reports that hospitals in Florida create more than 900,000 jobs and generate upwards of $128 billion in statewide economic contributions. 

The study’s aim was to estimate the total annual economic contributions of hospitals across the State of Florida. Private hospitals are the second largest employers in the health care industry, after the offices of physicians, dentists, and other health practitioners.

“Hospitals are the largest employers in many communities across Florida,” said Bruce Rueben, president of the Florida Hospital Association (FHA). “Our member hospitals constantly reinvest in their communities and train new generations of health care providers.”

The study calculates the direct, indirect and induced economic impact of Florida hospitals. Direct contributions include full- and part-time hospital employees while indirect contributions are generated through industry supply chains and purchases from vendors. The household spending of Florida hospital employees within their communities is described as an induced effect.

Larger urban populations saw greater total employment contributions. In the largest metropolitan areas of Miami-Ft. Lauderdale and Orlando, 294,613 and 215,321 jobs were reported respectively. The study found that Tallahassee, with a significantly smaller population, has 34,731 jobs related to the total employment contributions of Florida hospitals.

According to the study, the top 12 Florida counties with the largest overall hospital employment contributions were Miami-Dade, Hillsborough, Orange, Broward, Duval, Palm Beach, Pinellas, Alachua, Lee, Brevard, Volusia, and Polk. Fifteen other counties have employment contributions of at least 10,000 jobs, and 24 other counties had at least 1,000 jobs.

“The data clearly demonstrate that Florida’s hospitals are creating jobs and contributing to Florida’s economic growth,” said Alan Hodges, Ph.D., a primary author of the study. “Since 2013, the number of full-time equivalent hospital employees has increased by 6.87 percent.”

The 2015 economic impact study followed up a previous one conducted in 2013, also by the University of Florida. It was based on data collected by the Agency for Health Care Administration and the Florida Hospital Uniform Reporting System. Previous studies had been conducted by the researchers at the University of Florida in 2007, 2009, and 2011.