Flathead health industry growth skyrockets

In the last 25 years, Flathead County’s health-care sector has not only outpaced other Montana industries — it has grown more than twice as fast as the U.S. health-care sector.

That’s according to Bryce Ward, the associate director of the University of Montana Bureau of Business and Economic Research and author of a study released this week that outlines health care’s contribution to Flathead County.

On Tuesday afternoon, Ward defined the value health care in several contexts as he presented his findings at the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce’s monthly luncheon.

Ward said that as an economist, he likes numbers — and that by one numerical measure, the county’s jobs in health care have increased by 180 percent since 1990. But then he pulled up an image on the screen that showed him standing next to his pregnant wife and two sons two years ago when they moved to Montana.

“This is what I really care about,” Ward said, pointing to the photo. “The last time I was looking for a place to live, health care was really on my mind.”

Ward said health care seeps into every part of an economy — from easy-to-read numbers such as taxes to fueling population growth since people typically want to live within easy reach of care.

Last year, the health-care work force was the largest sector in the county with roughly 6,300 workers. That accounted for 16 percent of the county’s employment and 21 percent of the county’s annual payroll at $313 million.

In comparison, retail trade ranked second in the county’s total wages at $167 million and manufacturing third at $140 million.

In the same year, there were 13,000 jobs tied to the industry — including jobs in construction, retail trade, local and state government and real estate. That’s more than 30 percent of the county’s total employment. Those jobs, along with actual jobs in the health-care industry, translated to $1 billion of personal income directly and indirectly attributable to the health-care sector.

That number is bound to increase, too, because Ward’s study revealed the Flathead is well on its way to becoming a destination medical center in the state. Flathead County hospitals reported 20 percent of their patients come from outside of the county for care.

“We have several thousand jobs here in health care or spillover industries that are tied to the fact that Montana is spread out and people come here to get care,” Ward said.

The study was commissioned by the Kalispell Chamber Foundation and partners such as Kalispell Regional Healthcare, Glacier Bank, PayneWest Insurance and Spectrum Business Enterprise Solutions.

Kalispell Chamber President Joe Unterreiner said there has been a recent renewed effort to create city planning that supports the health sector’s growth.

“We’re excited about the kinds of speciality services the hospital and local practices are growing which contribute to that trade component — the 20 percent of visitors coming to the valley initially for care,” Unterreiner said.

The chamber announced that as an effort to support Flathead County as a destination medical center, the city of Kalispell is writing a new chapter in its growth policy devoted to health care.

Unterreiner said, for example, the city recently changed its zoning requirements in the H1 zone — Kalispell Regional’s main hub — that allowed building up to 60 feet high without a conditional-use permit and removed the maximum height restriction with a conditional-use permit.

“The zoning district is just an initial successful step taken so far to support the work that’s occurring with health care in the county,” he said.

In recent years, the county’s medical growth has been tangible.

Between 2012 and 2018, Flathead County’s health-care service providers will have collectively invested $147 million in the creation of nearly 595,000 square feet of new health-care facilities, according to the UM study.

That includes Flathead Valley Community College’s $5.7 million Nursing and Health Sciences building, Immanuel Lutheran’s $12 million senior living facility, and Kalispell Regional’s 190,000-square-foot, $37.8 million Women’s and Children’s Pavilion currently under construction, as well as plans for the hospital’s 30,000-square-foot expansion of its gastrointestinal facility.

Dr. Federico Seifarth, a pediatric surgeon, said he joined the hospital because of its upcoming Women’s and Children’s Pavilion.

“What we’ve seen, the growth in pediatric and pediatric subspecialties … it’s really [moving] at rocketship speed,” Seifarth said.

He said in the beginning of 2015, the medical center had two pediatric intensivists.

By October, the hospital plans to have a fully-operational pediatric intensive-care unit — from treating kids involved in major accidents to long-term cancer treatments.

“We hope that we will see more and more people coming from outside of town to have care here,” Siefarth said. “Especially in the pediatric world, that means they come with families.”

He said he hopes the city continues to expand its other sectors to meet the needs attached to the growth in patients and visitors.

Reporter Katheryn Houghton may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at khoughton@dailyinterlake.com.