I’ve spent time meeting with many local business leaders in recent weeks and have been hearing many positive comments about our region, our community and how most local businesses produce goods and services closely tied to our quality of life. We have incredible local restaurants, recreational activities and so much more that make Central Oregon a place we are proud to call home.
These conversations have also led me to think more critically about the role St. Charles plays — not only as the largest provider of health care in the region, but as the largest employer. What benefit do our friends and neighbors receive simply by St. Charles continuing to exist as a nonprofit organization that is locally owned and where every dollar goes back into our people, programs and places?
We recently asked East Slope Economics, a Bend-based firm, to produce a report on the health system’s economic impact. Here are just a few highlights that I think are worth calling out:
- Of the approximately 7,400 jobs directly and indirectly supported by St. Charles, 41% are health care clinicians or directly support clinicians. The rest work in information services, educational instruction, food preparation, community and social services, administration and other areas.
- The vast majority of the nearly 5,000 folks directly employed by St. Charles live in Central Oregon. They account for nearly 4.7% of total employment in Deschutes County and around 3.5% of total employment in Crook and Jefferson counties. Roughly one in 20 jobs are St. Charles jobs – which means if you go a movie, a busy restaurant or a concert there is a high likelihood someone – or many people – in the crowd work for St. Charles.
- Our average wage is more than $109,000 — 75% higher than the average wage in Deschutes County. In addition to our caregivers’ local spending at area businesses, we contribute an estimated $40 million in annual income taxes to the state of Oregon.
- The economic impact of those 5,000 jobs is nearly $871 million. Meanwhile, the economic impact of St. Charles’ business spending is around $202 million, and the impact of our caregivers’ spending is about $377 million.
- Add it all up and you have a total economic impact of approximately $1.45 billion — yes, billion. That’s roughly 5% of total economic output from the entire region.
It’s important to note that our economic impact doesn’t end with direct spending and jobs. There’s a ripple effect: Providing access to quality care and critical services leads to improved health outcomes for Central Oregonians, which leads to things like decreased spending on health services and increased workforce productivity.
Having this information has been helpful as I’ve also been listening to and learning from other local business operators over the past few weeks. In addition to the pride they feel in our region, I also hear concerns that Oregon has developed a reputation as a state that is unfriendly to business. These concerns were echoed and substantiated by Oregon Business & Industry in a recent and comprehensive report. This year CNBC gave Oregon an “F” for business friendliness.
These are concerns that we at St. Charles share. Our long-term sustainability relies on the same trends supporting, or hindering, all local businesses. Our vitality is intimately linked with our region’s overall vibrancy.
My big takeaway from East Slope’s findings and listening to the voice of our local businesses? Our health system is an essential engine for a lot of good in Central Oregon — good that starts in our clinics and hospitals and stretches out to the far edges of the region, touching every individual, business and organization along the way. To maintain it, it’s imperative that our region adopts a renewed and thoughtful approach to continued economic development.
Sincerely,
Steve
