Hospital industry accounts for $108 billion 'ripple effect' in New York

A Healthcare Association of New York State study released this week indicates that the hospital industry's impact on the state, measured in dollars, is roughly $108 billion, the Albany Times Union reports. According to the report, hospitals in the Empire State treat 2.5 million inpatients and handle 47 million outpatient visits on an annual basis. The hospitals provide roughly $1.9 billion in uncompensated care each year. "We want to remind the public, policy makers and the media that healthcare has been an economic anchor," Williams Van Slyke, spokesman for HANYS, told the newspaper. "When so many other sectors of the economy ... have fallen away ... healthcare has been a reliable sector and will be even more so in the future." Article