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By PHYLLIS J. ZORN
Hays Daily News
It's not much of a surprise that the county's top employer is Hays Medical Center, with 1,154 employees. Hospitals often are the top employer in rural counties.
According to the Ellis County Coalition for Economic Development, the next highest employer is Fort Hays State University, with 704 employees, not counting students who work part-time.
Hays USD 489 falls third on the list of top employers. After that, the top retail employer, Wal-Mart, hits the list.
“All of these numbers were taken in June,” said Mendi Alexander, office manager for the coalition.
Hospital statistics show 1,154 employees in the following categories: 25 physicians, 296 nurses, 56 radiology department employees, 165 service employees and 612 others.
Hays Medical Center's $17 million expansion of the DeBakey Heart Institute and Rehabilitation Center is not expected to immediately add to the number of hospital employees, said Jodi Schmidt, HMC chief development officer. However, it is likely to widen the span between the number of hospital employees and the number of university employees over time.
“We will not be adding staff initially, as current associates will be moving into the new space. But we do anticipate the need to add positions in the future, as the number of patients we care for in the expanded rehabilitation and heart areas increases,” Schmidt said.
Schmidt stressed that hospitals are an economic development issue for communities, since hospitals are often a community's largest employer. Schmidt spends a lot of her time working with the Northwest Kansas Health Alliance, an association of 22 hospitals that have a cooperative agreement to work together on health care issues. It is the largest hospital alliance in the nation.
According to a Kansas State University study, “Kansas Health Works,” the total payroll of the health-care sector in Ellis County, including the hospital, nursing homes, clinics, dentists, pharmacies and other health care providers, is about $81.7 million.
In addition, the county's health-care employers create an economic “ripple effect” among other local businesses, helping to attract businesses looking to locate where the quality of life is good for their employees and bringing in shopping, lodging and dining dollars from people who come to Hays seeking medical care, the report adds.
Reporter Phyllis Zorn can be reached at (785) 628-1081, ext. 137, or by e-mail at
phylz@dailynews.net.
Hays Medical Center .... 1,154
FHSU ............................... 704
USD 489 .......................... 645
Wal-Mart .......................... 485
DSNWK ........................... 283
Adronics ........................... 213
Ellis County ...................... 198
High Plains Mental
Health Center .......... 198
Dillons (both stores) ........ 180
City of Hays ..................... 174
Enersys ............................ 170
Figures provided by the Ellis County Coalition for Economic Development