Pennsylvania Hospitals' Community Impact

Fiscal Year 2023
 

Hospitals are vital to Pennsylvania communities

Pennsylvania can’t have healthy, vibrant communities without strong hospitals. In addition to providing around-the-clock care for all people, regardless of ability to pay, hospitals ensure access to high-quality care, making communities places where people want to live and where economic development can happen.

Hospitals’ critical role extends beyond patient care. Pennsylvania hospitals support their communities by:

  • Serving as leading job creators in Pennsylvania communities.
  • Driving local economies and enabling economic development.
  • Addressing community health needs and, absent a public hospital system, providing critical public health infrastructure.
  • Providing charity care and supporting care for millions of Pennsylvanians covered by Medicare and Medicaid.
  • Educating and training the next generation of clinicians.

HAP’s analysis of fiscal year (FY) 2023 data reveals that Pennsylvania hospitals delivered a $10 billion community benefit and—both directly and through the ripple effects of their economic activity—strengthened their communities and the commonwealth by:

  • Contributing $186.5 billion to the state and local economies
  • Supporting more than 627,255 jobs for Pennsylvanians
  • Generating $38.6 billion in wages, salaries, and benefits

 

 

Member Stories: Community Benefit in Action

Child smiling at a doctor

Caring for Pennsylvania

Hospitals offer around-the-clock, high-quality routine and emergency care to Pennsylvania’s residents, providing critical public health infrastructure for communities throughout the state. Hospitals and health systems continue their commitment to ensuring access to high-quality person-centered care for all patients, regardless of their ability to pay.

During fiscal year 2023, Pennsylvania hospitals had:

  • 1.5 million inpatient discharges
  • 5.5 million emergency department visits
  • 43 million outpatient visits
  • 35,735 staffed beds
  • 120,138 births

Economic Impact

During the past decade, the industry's economic activity has increased by 67%.

During fiscal year 2023, the hospital economic impact represents 19% of the commonwealth's gross domestic product.

  • Jobs: Hospitals generated $38.6 billion in wages, salaries, and benefits and supported 627,255 jobs; one of every 9
  • Top employers: 57 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties have at least one hospital among their top 10 employers and, in 22 counties, a hospital is the largest employer.
  • Research funding: Hospitals and universities with hospital-affiliated medical schools secured nearly $1.93 billion in federal research funding 

 

Hospital staff

Medical research worker

Community Benefit

During FY 2023, Pennsylvania hospitals and health systems delivered nearly $10 billion in total community benefit.

  • Charity care (financial assistance at cost) - $377,904,583
  • Medicaid shortfall - $2,936,442,127
  • Cost of other government programs - $88,438,757

  • CHIP shortfall - $544,167

  • Community health improvement services and community benefit operations - $271,073,036
  • Health professions education - $1,218,878,384
  • Subsidized health services - $846,061,012
  • Research - $674,180,431
  • Cash and in-kind contributions for community benefit - $211,760,257
  • Medicare shortfall (including DSH and IME) - $3,062,846,583
  • Bad debt - $199,324,580

Pennsylvania county mapRegional Info:

Click on region name below for more information

  • Altoona/Johnstown includes Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Indiana, and Somerset counties
  • Lehigh Valley includes Berks, Carbon, Lehigh, Northampton, and Schuylkill counties
  • North Central includes Centre, Clinton, Columbia, Lycoming, Mifflin, Montour, Northumberland, Snyder, Tioga, and Union counties
  • Northeast includes Bradford, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Pike, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Wayne, and Wyoming counties
  • Northwest includes Cameron, Clarion, Clearfield, Crawford, Elk, Erie, Forest, Jefferson, Lawrence, McKean, Mercer, Potter, Venango, and Warren counties
  • South Central includes Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Fulton, Huntingdon, Juniata, Lancaster, Lebanon, Perry, and York counties
  • Southeast includes Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties
  • Southwest includes Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Washington, and Westmoreland counties

Map source: Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4). Counties by region. HAP’s analysis combined regions 8 and 9 as Southeast Region.

 

HAP Contacts

For more information or with questions, please contact HAP's Research Department. Media inquiries should be directed to Kim Yakowski, manager, media relations.

 

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