MercyOne Newton Medical Center created $77.7 million impact on local economy

Last year, MercyOne Newton Medical Center generated 378 jobs that added $20.9 million in total wages and $77.7 million in total gross domestic product to Jasper County’s economy, according to the latest study by the Iowa Hospital Association.

“Hospitals have a significant positive impact on the local economies they serve which is why it is so vital to have a strong hospital in rural communities like ours,” Chad Kelley, chief operating officer at MercyOne Newton Medical Center, said. “Hospitals are economic drivers which utilize local businesses to support operations, thereby creating jobs not only within the hospital’s walls but externally in the community as well.”

One component of the total economic stimulus hospitals provide to local communities includes charitable community benefit services. Community benefits are activities to improve health status and increase access to health care, including uncompensated charity care, health screenings, support groups, counseling, immunizations, nutrition services and transportation programs. “MercyOne Newton Medical Center contributed more than $3.3 million in charity care and community benefit services alone in the last fiscal year. More than 1,000 individuals directly benefited from these community service programs in our local community,” Kelley said.

The study was compiled from hospital-submitted data to the American Hospital Association’s annual survey of hospitals. The study found that Iowa hospitals employed 137,841 people in 2023. As an income source, hospitals provided over $9 billion in wages. Hospital expenses accounted for over $21.3 billion of the state’s gross domestic product.

“Iowa’s hospitals and health systems implemented the programs and services accounted for in this study in response to their communities’ needs,” IHA President and CEO Chris Mitchell said. “Many of these programs and services wouldn’t exist without hospital support and leadership. With IHA’s advocacy, these efforts help ensure the financial stability of hospitals, making it possible for them to provide the services and programs most needed by the people they serve.”

The Iowa Hospital Association is a voluntary membership organization representing the interests of hospitals and health systems to business, government, and consumer audiences.

Overall, MercyOne Newton helped create 3.6 percent of all jobs, 4.2 percent of all wages, and 6.7 percent of all gross domestic product in Jasper County during the last 2023-24 fiscal year. MercyOne Newton Medical Center is committed and proud to deliver health care services to residents of Jasper County and the surrounding areas both today and into the future.