New report shows Montana hospitals pump billions into local economies

New research from the University of Montana affirms what economists have been saying for some time now — that the state’s hospitals are pumping billions of dollars into local economies.

The data comes from a new report by UM’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER) for the Montana Hospital Association.

The report uses audited findings from 56 of the state’s 60 non-governmental hospitals and shows them accounting for close to 12% of Montana’s private sector employment and 13% of the total private-sector wages.