Colorado hospitals contributed $18.8 billion in economic output in 2010 — including $9.8 billion in direct jobs and spending — according to a study released Wednesday that is designed to help buffer hospitals against potential cuts in federal and state health care funding.
The study, commissioned by the Colorado Hospital Association (CHA) and conducted by Colorado State University, is the first examination of the economic impacts of the state’s hospitals since the beginning of the recent recession.
It shows that Colorado’s 108 hospitals added 4,900 jobs between 2007 and 2010, a time frame in which the overall state economy lost more than 123,000 jobs.
Those facilities directly employed 71,700 people last year with average salary-plus-benefit compensation figures of $69,900, according to the report, titled “Examining the Impacts of Hospitals on the Colorado Economy.”
