President's Message

Posted on: 7/26/24

The OHA membership has much to celebrate. We had a strong, successful legislative session, our community benefit project is coming in for a landing and our primary care project will develop options for our board to consider as we lead the conversation on how our state should make primary care investments through Medicaid.

But perhaps the largest demonstration of our impact on Oklahoma can be seen in the economic vitality we create. Next week, OHA will release its first comprehensive study on the economic impact of hospitals in Oklahoma in more than a decade.

Our report was prepared by Region Track, a regional economic, forecasting, and analysis firm, which has done considerable work on behalf of many industries and the state of Oklahoma.

So, what have we learned? Our report, based on 2021 data, will show that hospitals supported $30.5 billion in economic impact plus other direct spillover effects. 

The hospital sector supported $13.7 billion in state GDP or 6.3% of our state’s total GDP. 

We also support more than 186,000 jobs with $12.7 billion in earnings. In fact, our employment represents 18% of all of Oklahoma’s jobs and 9.1% of total statewide household earnings. 

We are also a true economic engine, creating more than 15,000 new jobs over the past three decades. In fact, the revenues generated by our hospitals contribute to 4% of our state’s total economic output.

Simply put, Oklahoma’s economy is directly tied to the success of the hospital field. For every dollar of direct GDP produced by hospitals, an additional 93 cents of GDP is created. In other words, when a hospital spends a dollar, they create another dollar in the economy.

We encourage you to look out for this report next week, examine the information and data, and share a copy with your board, your community, or use it in your own planning for the future.

A strong hospital community means a strong Oklahoma and when we are working together, we can improve health and healthcare in Oklahoma. 


Rich Rasmussen
President & CEO