Tanner Health Contributes Nearly $3.6 Billion to the Local Economy

Tanner Health's impact on the region's economy grew to nearly $3.6 billion according to a new report from the Georgia Hospital Association (GHA).

Tanner Medical Center/Carrollton generated more than $1.2 billion in economic impact in Carroll County, generating more than 3,800 jobs and leading to the contribution of more than $547 million in total household earnings.

Combined, Tanner Medical Center/Villa Rica and Willowbrooke at Tanner generated nearly $513 million in total output, created more than 2,100 jobs and contributed more than $223 million of total household income.

The total economic impact of Higgins General Hospital in Bremen exceeded $80 million. The hospital supported more than 380 jobs and combined household earnings of almost $31 million.

Tanner Medical Group, one of metro Atlanta's largest multi-specialty physician groups, produced a total output of $1.7 billion for the region's economy, supporting nearly 6,300 jobs and leading to the contribution of $785 million in total household earnings. The group operates medical practices in Carroll, Douglas, Haralson, Heard and Paulding counties in Georgia and in Randolph County, Alabama.

Tanner Medical Center/East Alabama had a total economic impact of $33 million, creating more than 200 jobs and generating $13.5 million in salaries and benefits. The hospital also provided nearly $1.5 million in uncompensated care according to the Alabama Hospital Association (AlaHA).

These figures come from GHA and AlaHA's annual Economic Impact reports. Both organizations partnered with IMPLAN® to develop their updates, which is based on 2023 data.

Tanner facilities created nearly 13,000 jobs throughout west Georgia and east Alabama. Altogether, Georgia hospitals were credited with contributing $137 billion to the state's economy and creating or supporting more than 588,000 full- and part-time jobs. This represents a 12.3% increase compared to the previous year. Alabama's 114 hospitals contributed more than $25 billion to the state's economy, supporting more than 143,000 jobs and generating a $10.4 billion labor impact.

Tanner incurred more than $36 million in uncompensated costs associated with providing charity and indigent care to patients across all its facilities as of June 2024. As a nonprofit hospital system, the organization's mission revolves around providing quality, accessible health care to every member of the community.

Caring for those who cannot pay is not unique to Tanner. According to the 2023 Georgia Department of Community Health's Hospital Financial Survey, Georgia hospitals reported $740 million in bad debt cost, which is incurred when a patient does not pay and does not qualify for indigent or charity care programs. Hospitals must cover bad debt losses from positive margins gained from other payers.

"At Tanner, we have been extremely fortunate to experience consistent, long-term growth, and I believe it's because we're committed to making the changes and the improvements necessary to meet the needs of our growing community," said Loy Howard, president and CEO of Tanner Health. "We are focused on expanding our facilities and improving access, which is more important now than ever before. Rural hospitals are closing at an alarming rate - and have been for the past decade - and it's up to the other hospitals that remain to deliver the necessary services to the people who need them most."

According to a December 2025 report from the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform (CHQPR), more than 100 rural hospitals throughout the United States have closed over the past 10 years, and more than 700 rural hospitals - one-third of all rural hospitals in the country - are currently at risk of closing.

"We have always believed in delivering remarkable care close to home, and everything we do demonstrates this commitment to the communities we serve," said Howard. "We built a patient tower in Carrollton to add capacity and reduce emergency department wait times. We just started construction on a four-story women's expansion in Villa Rica that will add beds, nurseries, enhanced imaging and more.

"We opened the region's first mental health urgent care to support patients in times of crisis. We're bringing cutting-edge cardiac treatments like transcatheter aortic valve replacement - or TAVR - to our area, and we've partnered with Mercer University School of Medicine to open a clinical campus that will train the next generation of physicians to serve rural communities. On top of all this, we offer community health programs and wellness resources to improve the lives of our friends and neighbors, and we continue to provide free and low-cost care for those without insurance coverage."

In its 2025 Hospital Handbook, GHA states that the patient care margin for all hospitals in Georgia was 5.9% in 2023. More than one-third of Georgia hospitals lost money in 2023, and 52% of rural hospitals had negative total margins. GHA predicts that margins will continue to be negatively impacted in the future, primarily due to reductions in payments from programs like Medicare and the Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital Program.

Even amid the challenging circumstances and dwindling margins impacting healthcare facilities across the state, Tanner continues to make a positive impact on the community.

"Tanner is well-positioned to weather the storms being faced by so many hospitals today," said Howard. "Whether it's through treatment, a well-paying job or some other means, we are truly grateful to contribute to the well-being of so many people in our community."