Florida Hospital System (see more articles like this)

Based upon retail sales, Florida Hospital contributed $3.4 billion to the $28 billion economy of Central Florida in 2006.  This means that last year, Florida Hospital and its nearly 16,000 employees were responsible for 12.2 percent of the total economic performance of the Central Florida Region when measured in retail sales, and 5.4 percent of the area’s Gross Domestic Product. 

The Effects of the Florida Hospital System on the Central Florida Region – A Re-assessment of Community Impact estimates the financial impact exerted by Florida Hospital’s seven campuses, 16 Centra Care locations, and other provider and support organizations on their local communities in Orange, Seminole, and Osceola Counties as a provider of health services, as an employer, and as good citizens of the communities being served in a number of philanthropic roles. 

Independent researchers Timothy Rotarius, Ph.D., M.B.A., Aaron Liberman, Ph.D., and Antonio Trujillo, Ph.D., M.P.P. conducted the study using 2006 data.  The researchers are also faculty in the Department of Health Professions at the University of Central Florida.  The assessment is an update to the Financial Analysis and Community Impact Assessment of Florida Hospital released in 2003.  That assessment, based on 2002 data, showed Florida Hospital represented a $2.05 billion economic impact, accounting for 7.3 percent of the local economy. 

The recently completed re-assessment updates the original analysis, adds a construction component, and expands upon the original community citizenship analysis.  For the purpose of the re-assessment, Florida Hospital contributions were divided into the following categories:  (1) Florida Hospital as a major healthcare provider; (2) Florida Hospital as a large employer; (3) Florida Hospital as an organization committed to major construction projects in pursuit of its health services mission; (4) Florida Hospital as a healthcare entity providing unreimbursed care; (5) Florida Hospital as an entity that pays taxes to governmental agencies; and (6) Florida Hospital as an entity whose employees contribute greatly to their local community.

“The value, in terms of enhancing the quality of life through world-class health care and providing services to all persons in need, regardless of ability to pay, indicates strongly that the loss of [Florida Hospital] as a significant financial resource to the Central Florida community would severely impair both the growth plans and the economic development of this region.  As has been amply demonstrated through the conduct of this analysis, [Florida Hospital] serves as a teaching and learning organization, and through the extensive array of services it provides will continue to represent an important asset in fostering future growth and development throughout the region,” Rotarius said.

“Our goal is to help Orlando become a healthcare destination, and in order to measure the effectiveness of our strategies we wanted to establish a baseline to quantify the economic impact of our health system.  Now, on a go-forward basis, we can evaluate our incremental improvements as we move toward Florida Hospital’s Centennial Celebration and the realization of Orlando as a healthcare destination,” said Florida Hospital President Lars Houmann.

The researchers used a descriptive case study methodology.  Data for the project originated from a variety of sources, including:  Florida Hospital documents and reports; federal, state, and local government statistics; and business and health care journals.  The data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS, 2006) software.  Relevant and established mathematical multipliers were also employed so that a true conservative and realistic multiplier effect could be projected.

With seven hospitals and 16 Centra Care locations, Florida Hospital is one of the largest not-for-profit hospitals in the country, caring for more than one million patients each year.  The more than 1,900-bed hospital system has several major centers of excellence including Cardiology, Cancer, Neuroscience, Orthopaedics, and Diabetes.