Newport Hospital generates $54M annual economic impact, Salve Regina study finds
Newport Hospital’s services create direct and indirect economic impacts totaling more than $54 million in the region annually, according to a study completed by students in Salve Regina’s ECN307: Introduction to Econometrics class, taught by Sam Sacco, lecturer in the Department of Business and Economics.
The class recently shared their findings with Newport Hospital’s leadership team, including Crista Durand, chief executive officer; Dr. Jeffrey Gaines, chief medical officer; and Orla Brandos, vice president of patient care and chief nursing officer.
The study was commissioned by Durand – who holds a bachelor’s degree in financial management from Salve Regina – to commemorate the hospital’s 150-year anniversary. “We knew the economic value would be in the multi-millions,” she said. “But $55 million … it was really eye-opening to see the impact that we have.”
Gaines thanked the students for the research and time they spent on the study. “For us to be able to take it back to our team and to be able to show them, to give them a sense of the magnitude of the impact that this building and the work that they do has on the community will be a really powerful message for us to share,” he said.
In previous years, students in Sacco’s classes have been commissioned to complete economic impact studies for Newport’s famed Cliff Walk, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Fall River, the Naval Undersea Warfare Center and Salve Regina. They also studied the cost of the COVID-19 pandemic to Rhode Island’s hospitality and tourism industries.
For this project, students focused their research on identifying the ways in which Newport Hospital impacts both the city and Aquidneck Island by measuring the individual and aggregate levels of these economic, public health, community and civic contributions. They presented both quantitative and qualitative contributions the hospital makes to Newport County communities and citizens through its many inpatient and outpatient services and partnerships.
Key findings of Newport Hospital’s contributions (projections for FY22 included):
- Total economic impact: $54,784,964
- Total jobs created: 302
- Total payroll: $37,171,342
- Total vendor payments: $14,704,281
- PILOT payments generated to city and schools: $110,282
- Capital expenditures: $2,573,249
- Charity care and community benefits: $6,470,000 (FY21 actual)
Newport Hospital profile (FY21 actual):
- Employees: 863 (501 full time, 362 part time)
- Affiliated physicians: 517
- Licensed beds: 129
- Total assets: $361,009,000
- Net patient service revenue: $119,865,000
Founded and funded by Newporters in 1873, Newport Hospital began as a 12-bed cottage hospital on donated land. Over the past two decades, it has opened a new wing, renovated inpatient units to offer more comfort and privacy to patients, expanded service lines and continued to acquire ever more sophisticated technology and equipment.
Newport Hospital has kept pace with advances in medical technology and the needs of the community. It is now a state-of-the-art, award-winning health care facility that offers a wide array of inpatient and outpatient services, including an emergency department, diagnostic and surgical services, the Vanderbilt Rehabilitation Center and the Noreen Stonor Drexel Birthing Center.
