Savannah, Georgia Area: Wage Index

Today I want to look at how many employees these hospitals have and what the average hourly wage is for them.

Number of Employees

FTEs (full-time equivalents) are reported on the Medicare Cost Report. Many more people are working at the hospital than reported since hospitals have a good many part-time and PRN positions.

Hospital	FTEs
MEMORIAL HEALTH UNIV MED CEN	2,887.65
CANDLER HOSPITAL	1,257.84
ST JOSEPH’S HOSPITAL - SAVANNAH	1,080.42
BEAUFORT COUNTY MEMORIAL HOSPITAL	1,417.78
EAST GEORGIA REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER	702.31
HILTON HEAD REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER	371.30
WAYNE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL	398.76
MEADOWS REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER	874
EVANS MEMORIAL HOSPITAL	138.87
COASTAL CAROLINA HOSPITAL	218.35
APPLING HOSPITAL	302.64

These hospitals employ 9,600-plus people. The economic impact is huge. Between the number of patients and the number of employees, it’s pretty amazing to consider how significant the medical industry is to these communities.

Interns & Residents

Memorial Health University Medical Center serves as a teaching hospital for Mercer University School of Medicine where they provide instruction for third and fourth year medical students.¹

Memorial Health reported 146.38 Interns & Residents FTEs on their 2018 Medicare Cost Report. This is the only hospital in the region that reported Intern & Resident FTEs.

Average Hourly Wage

The first table is the average hourly wage for overhead departments. These are departments that do not touch the patient directly. Departments like accounting, pharmacy, medical records, human resources, and housekeeping are a few examples.

Hospital	Avg Hourly Wage
MEMORIAL HEALTH UNIV MED CEN	33.34
CANDLER HOSPITAL	36.46
ST JOSEPH’S HOSPITAL - SAVANNAH	36.34
BEAUFORT COUNTY MEMORIAL HOSPITAL	34.62
EAST GEORGIA REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER	31.68
HILTON HEAD REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER	40.71
WAYNE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL	29.97
MEADOWS REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER	37.84
EVANS MEMORIAL HOSPITAL	25.95
COASTAL CAROLINA HOSPITAL	40.73
APPLING HOSPITAL	28.25

The range is between $25.95 and $40.71 and the most interesting part of this is these are both at the smaller hospitals. With the highest rate at Hilton Head Regional and Coastal Carolina, I wonder if cost-of-living is higher in South Carolina? That will be something to check out in the census data.

This next table is the average hourly wage for direct patient care departments. This would nurses in Med/Surg, ICU, and NICU or therapists in Respiratory Therapy, Occupational therapy, or Speech Therapy. Those are just a few examples.

Hospital	Avg Hourly Wage
MEMORIAL HEALTH UNIV MED CEN	26.17
CANDLER HOSPITAL	22.60
ST JOSEPH’S HOSPITAL - SAVANNAH	20.69
BEAUFORT COUNTY MEMORIAL HOSPITAL	27.40
EAST GEORGIA REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER	21.87
HILTON HEAD REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER	32.77
WAYNE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL	21.77
MEADOWS REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER	24.46
EVANS MEMORIAL HOSPITAL	18.06
COASTAL CAROLINA HOSPITAL	36.56
APPLING HOSPITAL	16.01

Again, the highest rates are at Hilton Head Regional and Coastal Carolina. That is fascinating to me. I would have thought Memorial Health would be the highest, since they have more of the specialized services.

Musing Revelation

I am pleasantly surprised at how many people are employed by these facilities. Medicine is such a huge part of our society. I don’t think I realize even now how much of an economic impact it has. With smaller hospitals struggling so much, I think it is really important to see how much they offer to their community. It’s not just the jobs. It’s a way to serve your community. While they may not be able to do open-heart surgery, they can stabilize you such that you may make it to the hospital that specializes in that service. That’s what being in the medical community is all about: providing tools to help each patient have the best quality of life available.