Nationally, healthcare is an ever-growing percentage of the economy, largely due to the aging demographics of the baby boomers. And, say those who watch the industry closely, this trend is not going away.
It’s no different here in Maryland, whose healthcare heavy-hitters—including Hopkins, UMMS, and MedStar—increasingly aren’t just meeting the state’s wellness needs. They’re bolstering its fiscal ones, too.
The Johns Hopkins Health Systems
According to the Johns Hopkins Health Systems, the 2006 impact it generated on Baltimore and the state overall was a staggering $10 billion in economic activity, a figure 43 percent greater than the 2002 level of $7 billion.
“Hopkins is the largest non-governmental employer in the state,” says Pamela Paulk, head of HR for the Johns Hopkins Health Systems. “We employ 45,000 people in Maryland, of which 40,000 work in Baltimore City.”
Other Hopkins statistics note that, in 2006, this powerhouse attracted $1.6 billion in federal research and development, more than any other university in the United States, filed more than 300 patent applications, and provided $208.5 million in charity care.
Were that not enough, more than 50 start-up companies were begun with Hopkins’ technologies.
Yet, it is not just lab techs, physicians, nurses, social workers, and others directly working in healthcare who benefit from the presence of Hopkins. In 2006, Hopkins’ construction of new buildings in East Baltimore resulted in more than 2,870 construction jobs in Maryland—2,150 of which were seen in Baltimore City—and 2,960 spin-off jobs around the state.
Also contributing to the economy are patient families, who frequently stay in hotels, eat in restaurants, hire taxi cabs, and so on. And Hopkins employees, of course, pay taxes that will ultimately see their way to the paychecks of teachers, firefighters, police, and others.
But it isn’t just healthcare that Hopkins contributes to Baltimore City. “We really view ourselves as having a very tight alignment with the community,” says Paulk. “About 43 percent of our workers live in Baltimore City. We work hard to see that our employees live up to their potential by giving them educational opportunities.
“We even pay 50 percent of an employee’s child’s college tuition. We believe that education is an asset that can never be taken away from an individual.”
Paulk adds that Hopkins now employs 100 people who were living in homeless shelters when they were first hired, and that it has a mentoring program with Baltimore’s Paul Laurence Dunbar High School. Also, as a result of its status as a Live Near Your Work donor, Hopkins employees who agree to purchase a house in a depressed neighborhood near either the Homewood or East Baltimore campus can receive up to $17,000 toward the purchase price.
The University of Maryland Medical System
“The University of Maryland Medical System [UMMS] is a nine-hospital system with academic, community, and specialty service missions reaching every part of the state and beyond,” says Joan Shnipper, UMMS’ vice president for communications and public affairs. “The system includes the University of Maryland Medical Center, an academic, 705-bed facility in downtown Baltimore. With close affiliations with the University of Maryland schools of medicine, nursing, and pharmacy, the medical center trains more than half of the state’s healthcare professionals.
“The other hospitals in the University of Maryland Medical System include the Baltimore Washington Medical Center, Maryland General Hospital, Kernan Orthopaedic and Rehabilitation Hospital, University Specialty Hospital, Shore Health System (the Memorial Hospital at Easton and Dorchester General), and Chester River Hospital Center. We also own Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital in partnership with Johns Hopkins Health System.”
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