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Area hospitals have greater impact than Air Force base, group says

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Staff Report Updated 1:41 AM Tuesday, February 23, 2010

DAYTON — The Greater Dayton Area Hospital Association in a new report says its member hospitals had a greater economic impact on the region in 2008 than that of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

The hospital association put the sector’s overall local economic impact — the amount of dollars flowing through the community annually due to hospitals — at $6.77 billion, compared to $4.44 billion at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

The report shows hospitals in 11 local counties provide not only quality health care, but also are key employment and economic forces in the region, said Bryan Bucklew, GDAHA’s president and CEO.

Bucklew noted the base is a widely recognized economic engine in the region. The comparison made between the impact of the hospitals and the base wasn’t meant to detract from the base’s economic significance to the region, Bucklew said.

Instead, he said, it’s aimed at underscoring for lawmakers how key hospitals also are to the local economy.

“I think it should come to mind when we’re trying to change public policy,” Bucklew said.

Base spokesman Derek Kaufman declined comment on GDAHA’s comparison.

“I’ve found people in the Miami Valley have varying degrees of understanding about Wright-Patt’s varied missions, but virtually everyone recognizes the base is a huge economic engine for southwest Ohio,” Kaufman wrote in an e-mail.

The hospitals’ economic impact was up 19 percent from $5.68 billion in 2005, GDAHA reported.

GDAHA also said hospitals directly employ 31,297 people in hospitals, nursing and personal care facilities, and medical and health services facilities. The base had more than 25,700 employees in fiscal 2008, according to its most recent economic impact analysis.

Bucklew acknowledged GDAHA has not tried to calculate the value of tax breaks received by its members, most of which are nonprofits.

Report data were prepared by the University of Cincinnati’s Economics Center for Education & Research. GDAHA paid $15,000 to $20,000 for the study, Bucklew said.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7457 or bsutherly@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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