How health care quietly powers the U.S. economy | Michael Dowling | Big Think

How health care quietly powers the U.S. economy
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There is enormous job growth happening in the health care sector. It added 346,000 new jobs in 2018, outpacing every other sector.

Hospitals economically sustain large communities not only through medical care but through ancillary industries such as construction, laundry, maintenance and food service jobs.

Hospitals are a silent but mighty economic engine. Closing down hospitals rather than revitalizing where possible can deprive struggling communities even further.

Michael Dowling is the author of Health Care Reboot with Charles Kenney.
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MICHAEL DOWLING:

Michael J. Dowling is President and Chief Executive Officer of Northwell Health, New York’s largest health care provider and private employer, with 23 hospitals, more than 700 outpatient locations, $12 billion in annual revenue and 68,000+ employees. One of health care’s most-influential executives, Mr. Dowling has received numerous awards, including the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, an honorary degree from the prestigious Queen’s University Belfast and his selection as the Grand Marshal of the 2017 St. Patrick’s Day Parade in NYC. He also serves as chair of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.
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TRANSCRIPT:

MICHAEL DOWLING: Health care is a humongous economic engine. It's often forgotten about the fact that there is a real contribution to the economy by health care. If you're running a large health care organization, you're probably the place that is doing the most construction in the region. So for example, in our organization, we do more construction than anybody else.

If you want to be in the health care business and you want to be in the laundry business, we have the largest laundry service. If you want to be in maintenance, we have probably one of the largest maintenance shops in the region. The dietary business – just imagine the amount of meals that are provided in a hospital every day; more meals than are provided in any restaurant than you can think about here in Manhattan, every single day, seven days a week. So if you want to be in the dietary business, in the food business, health care is a job growth area.

The point I'm trying to make is it is not just a business that only takes care of the medical treatment of a person who comes in who is ill. It's all of the other ancillary business. So whatever occupation that you want to be in, you can find it inside health care.

If you're in a poor community and you have a hospital – and some people would say, maybe that hospital in that community is not doing that well, but also, remember, that it is the largest employment source in that community. And that's why you often get into a discussion about, well, maybe that hospital should be downsized. Maybe that hospital should be closed. And there are reasons to argue those points in certain circumstances, but you also have to face with the reality that, in those cases, that place is the only place that hires people from that community. So if that facility closes, there are no jobs in that community. Therefore, that community, which is deprived at the moment, will only be more deprived if the hospital closes. So it's just not only health care alone that you're looking at. It's all of the surrounding issues that are connected to the direct provision of health care services.
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[thegreatestlight]

CEO of healthcare company thinks private healthcare is great. Now there's a surprise

[wetokebitcoins]

How health care is killing Americans and charging them outrageous fees | Normal People

[thijsjong]

There are nations with a lower percentege of the GDP spend in healthcare with a healthier population and higher life expectancy.
SO the efficiency of American healthcare is not high. Are there too many investors leeching of the system disproportionately?
That is wastefull.

[muchogustotaoskier]

He forgot to mention one ancillary: health insurance. No need for it. People just need health care. Insurance is a parasite on the health care industry. He had to have omitted it on purpose.

[rockinbobokkin]

Our Nation (USA) would spend less on healthcare if we ended private insurance and moved towards single-payer (universal ) health care.

[mikecoker]

That was a really lazy and unnsightful video with no depth whatsoever

[BaKeiDurr]

Charging people 20 bucks for advil and 100 bucks for bags of salt water. Sounds like a racket to me.

[JoeHuman]

I can't believe he just admitted he works for a racket.

[rikachiu]

Is that why healthcare has some of the highest turnover rates and paying low wages for the bottom tier workers?

[Gorrgrim]

So he would agree a free healthcare option for people in poor neighborhoods would help the community?

[donkin]

I think what he's getting at is that healthcare is an important service and that keeps up foundational development that is necessary for communities, but also gives incentives to develop business around that hospital. I'm not sure hes necessarily arguing for an economic model of the healthcare industry. Per se.

[kevinwalsh]

Lots of flaws in logic... e.g. Just because it's big doesn't make it 'a job growth area'

[chipchipperson]

I've been a programmer in healthcare for 8 years and it's an amazing career opportunity. As an independent contractor, I get no benefits and pay a lot of money for health insurance since I don't qualify for low income programs. This in turn makes me want to go to the doctor for trivial things, maybe even get a prescription for something like sleep, just to have something to show for all the money I'm putting into insurance. However, I also realize this mentality is how they get you. I'm very health oriented and do everything at home (work, workout, even groceries get delivered). I don't have a need for a car or drive, so the chances of me getting injured are slim to none. It feels like a waste of money, but knowing anything can happen and how the system works, it's very necessary to invest in your own health. I appreciate having that option of freedom instead of being forced into it.

[Bdonelove]

Types of comments:

1. “I know what’s best for Healthcare as a whole and it should be single-payer!”

2. “Big Pharma and Insurance is entirely corrupt!”

3.”Just live a healthy lifestyle and you don’t need these Healthcare institutions!”

For me, it’s a little bit of everything. Bad and good. Unfortunately, we can’t just change the system to simulate any of these blanket arguments because that would involve impacting millions of lives. All we can really try to do is build the case as detailed as possible for why healthcare should change course in any specific direction.

One big theme I agree with for the most part is the incentives to do this work. Regardless of who makes what money, we need a major overhaul in reevaluating why we have healthcare and ask how can we build a better future for it?

[Boomersfdtheworld]

Good thing we are asking for single payer and not single provider

[brendarua]

There are 4 big hospitals in my city. All 4 are doing major construction. 3 are owned by one holding/management company. The other big one and 2 smaller ones are owned by another. Go figure.

[CreativveLogic]

correct me if i'm wrong but all of the criticisms in the comments seem to be talking about the efficacy of american health care but the point in the video is health care's economic implications and ultimately it's large infrastructure for a myriad of industries within. I think an interesting perspective in our economics as a country but unfortunately, i think, serves the point of a country that doesn't put humanities as a relatively important factor

[aaronjm]

Please keep explaining how trickle down economics isn't working.

[deathdoomdarkness]

I didn't know PragerU was using Big Think's channel.

[JimHabash]

This statement is so true. My family WERE steel workers. I have earned a living fixing CT, MRI, C Arms, surgical robots, even EMR Electronic Medical Records, interrupted for 5 good $ years by the .com boom- and went right back into healthcare without blinking an eye in the recession of 2002-3. Steel mills in Youngstown and Pittsburgh Steubenville and Cleveland all went kaput in the 70s and finalized by 2000s. President Reagan was building the military industrial complex, they needed engineers. Midwest is a shell of what it was, but healthcare technology employment is the only thing I found where you could make a good consistent living. And H1B applicants flood that field now too, minimum payment of 60k. Wages went down for healthcare field service engineers around 2005, and have been stagnant. What else is new in the US? LOL. The MIC needs constant war, the US is now a Corptacracy where Corporations are king, financed by the working mans taxes, while Warren Buffet pays none, GE pays none, and the board members and families of the corporations (with new lower taxes of course Thanks congress!) can buy back shares to $tuff their stock awards compensation rather than capital equipment purchases and hiring. Plot the charts of BA RTN NOC UNH ANTHM CNC (yes the insurance company middle men). Plot the military industrial complex and healthcare insurance companies vs the SP 500 and you'll see what is wrong with America. You pay more for your healthcare while UNH stock goes up vs the SP500. Numbers/charts don't Lie. Up 248% vs the SP500) etf (SPY) the last 5 years. Plot RTN or Boeing or NOC Northrop Grumman vs the SPY the military industrial complex rakes it in off of your taxes. These stock charts will tell you what's wrong with the US.