Our Chamber of Commerce recently concluded a yearlong State of the Community lunch series with a program focusing on the State of Health Care in Coweta County. If we may be so bold as to borrow a line used by some past presidents in their State of the Union address, “The state of our health care is strong!”

We had the privilege of hearing directly from three local hospital CEOs—Anne Meisner of Cancer Treatment Centers of America, Ilona Wozniak of HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital, and Michael Robertson of Piedmont Newnan Hospital—and each one spoke of his or her hospital’s commitment to serving patients, growing their facilities and programs and making sure Coweta County continues to be known as a health care leader.

Keeping Coweta citizens healthy is a priority for all of us, and we take pride in the service and accomplishments that our local hospitals and medical facilities offer on a daily basis. As we read through this newspaper each week, we see our local health care providers fully engaged in this community, whether they’re offering free blood pressure screenings, sponsoring an event by a local nonprofit, or earning yet another well-deserved accolade from their peers.

As a chamber, we also take pride in knowing that our health care professionals contribute greatly to the economic prosperity of Coweta County. In our most recent Health Care Annual Report, we told of a study we found that concluded some 21 new jobs are created for every new physician brought into the local economy, generating more than $2 million in local revenue. 

In the last decade, Coweta County has seen three new hospitals as well as other health care facilities, ranging from urgent care, specialty care and women’s health services to hospices, assisted living facilities and a Veterans Administration clinic. These facilities have not only succeeded in delivering compassionate care for local and out-of-state patients and their families, but they have also created an economic boon that has significantly impacted the community, even spreading into the educational sector.

In 2014, over 27 percent of the technical college graduates in Coweta County earned degrees in the medical field, and more than 200 students graduated from the University of West Georgia as a registered nurse, bachelor of nursing science or master of nursing science. And health care jobs are quality jobs. The new nurse graduates are entering a health care and social assistance sector that employs 13 percent of Coweta’s workforce with an average salary of $50,000 per full-time employee.

The days of driving to other counties, cities or even states are over. Now, nearly every health care need can be met in our own back yard. This fact hugely impacts the county’s economy by keeping these health care dollars local. In addition, some patients and their families are now traveling from other areas to our county to seek treatment here, bringing more dollars into the local economy from dining, shopping and accommodation costs.

CTCA, HealthSouth and Piedmont Newnan Hospital have all reported incredible early growth, and all three CEOs said they expect that growth to continue. When the new Poplar Road interchange near Piedmont Newnan Hospital and HealthSouth is completed, that growth will be even greater.

Our county is incredibly fortunate to be positioned as a health care leader, and each and every health care facility in this county contributes to our community’s economic success. Coweta County continues to be known as “Prosperity’s Front Door,” and our thriving, growing health care sector is clearly one reason this is so.

(Candace Boothby is the president of the Newnan-Coweta Chamber of Commerce.)