Report: Health Care in NE Ohio Is a $22B Business
CLEVELAND – Since the start of the millennium, Northeastern Ohio’s health-care industry has seen a 37% growth in GDP and 21% growth in jobs, according to a report from Team NEO and JobsOhio.
“The region’s health care workforce, which includes individuals with diverse levels of education, has grown significantly over the past couple decades and is expected to keep growing,” the report says. “Now a $22 billion industry, health care stands strong as a major driving force in northeast Ohio’s economy.”
The vast majority of the GDP came from ambulatory services and hospitals, which accounted for 46% and 42%, respectively, of the $22 billion. Nursing and residential care centers accounted for the remaining 12%.
In all, the health-care industry accounts for 270,400 jobs in the 16-county region, a 21% increase since 2001. Ambulatory services has seen employment rise 25% to more than 90,000. Hospitals are up 21% to just shy of 110,000 and nursing and residential care centers are up 17% to 70,000.
Within health care, registered nurses are the most in-demand occupation, with 9,950 jobs needing filled in 2018, followed by nursing assistants (2,612 needed) and home health aides (2,335). Physicians posted the highest median hourly earnings at $102.27, with nurse practitioners in second at $47.61. All but two occupations, pharmacy technician and health information technician, had low risks of automation.
Growing fast within the industry is the biomedical sector. The Greater Cleveland area has more than 700 biomedical companies that have combined to raise more than $3 billion in capital since 2002. In 2018, according to BioEnterprise’s “2018 Midwest Healthcare Growth Capital Report,” 71 companies in northeastern Ohio raised $294 in capital, making the region the third-largest in the Midwest for total investment.
Over the past five years, 50 northeastern Ohio companies and organizations in health care and related fields have expanded.
Among them are The Smithers Group, which is spending $22 million to make s six-story building in downtown Akron its new world headquarters. Smithers, which provides laboratory testing, consulting, information and compliance services, will also build an additional office and research and development building. The project will create 84 jobs and retain 145.
Steris Corp., which provides infection-prevention products and services, added a 30,000-square-foot expansion to its Mentor site. The project added 150 jobs to the campus. In all, the campus employs more than 1,500.
ReLink Medical, a health-care IT company that helps hospitals get rid of obsolete or excess medical equipment, moved its headquarters to Twinsburg. The move is expected to add 30 new positions, doubling its workforce.
The full report is available here.
Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
