Billion-Dollar Impact
The Medical College of Georgia and MCG Health System have an annual economic impact of more than $1.6 billion on the Augusta area, according to recent reports from the University System of Georgia and the Georgia Hospital Association.
MCG added more than $801 million to the Augusta-area economy in fiscal 2004, according to a study conducted by the University of Georgia’s Selig Center for Economic Growth in the Terry College of Business. A Georgia Hospital Association report showed MCG Health System contributed an additional $843 million to state and local economies in 2002.
The university system report showed the 34 public colleges and universities of the University System of Georgia had a $9.7 billion impact on the state in fiscal 2004, including $6.4 billion in initial spending by institutions and their students. The remaining $3.3 billion is the multiplier effect of the dollars as they are re-spent in the region.
MCG’s initial spending in fiscal 2004 was $476 million; approximately 25 percent of the budget comes from direct state appropriations. Extramural grant and contract support for research, education and service totaled $222.5 million, including a record $76.6 million in research funding.
A complete copy of the report can be found at http://www.icapp.org/pubs/impact.