Albany & Columbus, GA Area: Wage Index
Today we’ll dive into wage index data. We’ll primarily look at average hourly wages and how many FTEs (full-time equivalents) each hospital employs.
Number of Employees
Let’s take a look at how many employees (FTEs) are on the payroll. This won’t show the total number of people working at the hospitals, but it’ll give us a number which we can use for comparison between the hospitals.
| Hospital | FTEs |
|---|---|
| PHOEBE PUTNEY MEMORIAL HOSPITAL | 2,302.41 |
| ST FRANCIS HOSPITAL | 1,965.61 |
| PIEDMONT COLUMBUS | 1,683.92 |
| HUGHSTON HOSPITAL | 303.77 |
| PHOEBE SUMTER MEDICAL CENTER | 345.95 |
| JACK HUGHSTON MEMORIAL HOSPITAL | 271.87 |
Wow. I’m impressed at the number of employees at these hospitals. It takes a lot of people with a variety of skill sets to keep us healthy. Every time I see the number of employees at a given hospital, I think about how health care is truly a team effort. I’m an accountant and I don’t like touching people, so I’m extremely grateful for those who do.
Interns & Residents
Interns & Residents are our next generation of doctors. Let’s see how many are training in these hospitals.
| Hospital | FTEs |
|---|---|
| PHOEBE PUTNEY MEMORIAL HOSPITAL | 19.64 |
| PIEDMONT COLUMBUS | 35.4 |
| JACK HUGHSTON MEMORIAL HOSPITAL | 9.04 |
Piedmont Columbus has a Family Residency Program that started back in 1972. Looks like it is still going strong.
Average Hourly Wage
We have taken a look at how many employees are at these hospitals, now let’s take a look at how much they are getting paid on average. First, let’s look at the average hourly wage for overhead departments such as accounting, human resources, and housekeeping.
| Hospital | Average Hourly Wage |
|---|---|
| PHOEBE PUTNEY MEMORIAL HOSPITAL | 21.99 |
| ST FRANCIS HOSPITAL | 25.31 |
| PIEDMONT COLUMBUS | 27.02 |
| HUGHSTON HOSPITAL | 26.28 |
| PHOEBE SUMTER MEDICAL CENTER | 26.48 |
| JACK HUGHSTON MEMORIAL HOSPITAL | 25.91 |
Now let’s look at the average hourly wage for direct patient care departments.
| Hospital | Average Hourly Wage |
|---|---|
| PHOEBE PUTNEY MEMORIAL HOSPITAL | 38.21 |
| ST FRANCIS HOSPITAL | 32.64 |
| PIEDMONT COLUMBUS | 37.76 |
| HUGHSTON HOSPITAL | 38.77 |
| PHOEBE SUMTER MEDICAL CENTER | 38.49 |
| JACK HUGHSTON MEMORIAL HOSPITAL | 29.81 |
All of the average hourly wages look reasonable. Jack Hughston is lower, but it’s a smaller hospital. Larger hospitals would presumably have specialized services requiring specific skill sets, which I think would pay higher wages.
Musing Revelation
A business employing 200 people is considered a large business. These hospitals all are major employers for their communities. Hospitals are fascinating to me in that they have to attract a variety of skill sets in order to be successful. The employees have to work as a team in order to help the patient get healthier. Healthy patients build communities.
Health is something all people are interested in. I may be healthy and not need a hospital today, but who knows about what tomorrow brings. I certainly want a hospital to be available when I need one or someone I care about needs one. Thank you to all who are in the medical field!
This covers a good portion of Worksheet S-3, Part II on the Medicare Cost Report. All of this data is subject to change at any given time for any number of reasons. My only goal is to look through what is reported to learn more about these hospitals. Hopefully, somewhere along the line you will learn something too.