3. Background
Population: 58,095
Major Towns:
-Glenwood Springs
-Parachute
-Rifle
-Silt
Known for:
-Tourism (Glenwood Springs)
-Mining
-Travel stops (I-70 corridor)
County-wide surveys regarding
broadband
Current Multiplier: 1.6
4. Current Economic Drivers
5 Major Base Industries
Regional Service
Tourism
Retiree’s
Government
Mining
These Industries combine for 85% of
the Jobs in Garfield
5. Government Jobs In Garfield
LQ for Government Jobs in Garfield = 1.69
These Jobs include:
School Districts within the county
Roaring Fork School District
Garfield School District
Grand River Hospital In Rifle
6. Tourism Jobs In Garfield
Glenwood Springs is a Major Tourism Destination in Garfield County
Tourism In Garfield County tends to be cheaper relative to neighboring Mountain
Counties
7. Mining Jobs In Garfield
LQ for Mining Jobs in Garfield: 3.9
Jobs for Oil/Gas extraction has increased in Garfield County since 2001
Growth has plateaued over last couple years
8. Future Economic Drivers
Garfield is a growing county!
Mining and Tourism not chosen...why?
Base Industries- common thread?
Hospitals and Medical Services
9.
10. Telemedicine
Medical access in rural areas of the county
Advanced ambulatory tracking and remote consultations
Retiree and new family benefits
Benefits for surrounding counties
Potential to hire from within the county
11. Assets - Total Population
Garfield 3% growth, Rio Blanco 1.5% decrease, Mesa 1.2% growth, Eagle 2.7% decrease.
(Data taken from http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/PST045215/08045)
County Population (2010) Population (2015 Estimate)
Garfield 56,389 58,095
Rio Blanco 6,669 6,571
Mesa 146,723 148,513
Eagle 53,605 52,197
12. Variation in Age
(Data taken from http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/PST045215/08045)
County Age Under 18
(2010)
Age Under 18
(2015 Estimate)
Age 65+ (2010) Age 65+ (2015
Estimate)
Garfield 27% 25.7% 8.4% 11.2%
Rio Blanco 24.3% 23.8% 12.4% 13.9%
Mesa 23.5% 22.3% 14.9% 17.4%
Eagle 24.5% 22.8% 5.6% 8.7%
13. Education
(Data taken from http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/PST045215/08045)
County High School or Higher
Education (2010 Ages
25+)
Bachelor’s Degree or
Higher Education (2010
Ages 25+)
Garfield 85.3% 29.3%
Rio Blanco 91.2% 20.8%
Mesa 89.7% 25.2%
Eagle 89.9% 47.3%
14. Assets Cont...
Grand River Hospital, Rifle
Valley View Hospital, Glenwood
Springs
Classic Air Medical - April 25th, 2016
Colorado Mountain College
Certificate for basic and intermediate EMT
Nurse Aide certificate
15. Implications
1. Uses and advantages of telemedicine
2. Need and possibility of exporting this service
3. Economic advantages
4. Economic forecasts and potential consequences
16. R&D
Live-tracking of Ambulatory Services
Teleconsultations
Assisting in preventive care and
efficiency in delivery of care.
Increase in access to health and public
health information.
Potential Uses and Advantages of Telemedicine
17. 2 aspects to consider.
Costs
Availability
Surrounding Counties’ Hospitals:
Routt County
Eagle and Pitkin Counties
Example of health disparities are infant mortality rates in Garfield county
compared to other counties.
Possibility and Need for Exporting the Service
19. Economic Advantages
Revenue generation for the county through expansion of telemedical services
for the county’s major hospitals.
Expansion of patient base
Increase in human capital investment in Garfield County through education
and training of PAs, nurses, and other medical assistants.
This is why CMC was a crucial asset in our economy.
Analysis of human capital investment, what it means, and how to expand in
the coming years.
20. The telemedicine industry is expected to grow.
The Tractica Report reported by Businesswire.
It will be one of the future mechanisms in healthcare delivery and is growing in its
use.
Healthcare access will increase through the increase of telemedicine and the
expansion in access to broadband.
This is not just physical capital investment but also a human capital investment.
Healthier workers = happier workers = more productive economy.
Economic Forecasts
21. Conclusion
Healthcare is a growing industry in Garfield
Increase in young families and retirees that could benefit from remote consultations
and other telemedical implementations
Colorado Mountain College will aid in investing within and retaining more college
graduates within the county
Services could be exported to neighboring counties with similar health care needs
Garfield County, located in the northwest end of the state of Colorado, is a semi-rural county with a population of 58,095 as of 2015. The county is known for its popular mountain town destination, Glenwood Springs, which brings in an estimated $243 million in tourism per year as of 2013. In addition, the I-70 corridor runs through Garfield, making it a common resting place and travel stop for those driving to the western states or into Colorado. This county has experienced a three percent population growth, and with so many yearly visitors, the need for broadband is a growing concern for Garfield and many other rural counties across the U.S.
Identifying our future economic driver was not so much of a clear path as it may have been with other counties that are a bit more rural. Garfield county does not necessarily “specialize” in one thing and it is substantially big compared to some other counties we focused on this semester. We definitely found ourselves thinking of new ideas for future drivers for the first couple of weeks. I wanted to take you all through our thought process that led us to choosing our future economic driver.
Although at first glance when beginning our research, mining seemed to be the obvious economic driver for Garfield County. But as a few of us mentioned when presenting our news articles, the community members are very resistant to this industry growing any larger. In addition, we found that the mining related jobs had peaked before the recession around 2008 and has been steadily declining ever since, despite it still making up a large portion of the job base. And bringing in a lot of income to residents within the county.
When looking at some of the graphics provided by Chris Akers such as the one shown here, you can see that mining aside, regional services, government, tourism, and retirees make up a substantial portion of the base industries. Originally we thought about focusing on tourism, but as I am sure most of you know, the majority of tourist destinations within Garfield such as the hot springs, hanging lake, and many more attractions are located within the city of Glenwood. Glenwood is substantially developed and has access to broadband already to adequately advertise these attractions from beyond within the county. We didn’t see this industry as something that could benefit from better broadband access due to it already being exposed.
Then, looking at the other industries, we realized that healthcare was a common thread through the remaining base industries we were researching. Regional Services includes the Valley View Hospital located in Glenwood , and when looking at government, over 80% of government jobs are classified at the local level which happens to include the other major hospital, Grand River located in Rifle and Colorado Mountain College. Retirees are also a major part of Garfield. Given the mountain towns and convenient access to I-70, many people are looking to retire in counties such as Garfield. According to the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, the largest increase in population from 2000 to 2010 occured for residents over 55 years old. There was also a large increase in the youngest age range of the population. Both of these demographics require a larger amount of healthcare services.
When digging a little further, it became apparent that the two hospitals in Garfield bring in a lot of jobs and income within the county. Being the two major hospitals for not only Garfield, but surrounding counties such as rio blanco, eagle and pitkin, and given the other we realized that this industry is one that we could focus on building off of with the introduction of broadband across the county and beyond the major towns such as Glenwood and Rifle especially targeting the retiree population and new families.
This will an IT Surge driven economic grower.
Live-tracking: allows reduction in time to get to patient and the healthcare facility. Helps design more time-efficient routes.
Teleconsultations: this can increase the access to quality healthcare. Can increase life expectancy.
Preventive care: access to patient files and public health info. Allows for easier ability for follow-up and updated checkups. (health monitoring).
These can reduce health disparities present within the county and between the surrounding counties of moffat, rio blanco, routt, eagle, and pitkin.
Eagle county has a modest healthcare facility but the majority will go to glenwood springs, an 1-1.5 hr drive away. Pitkin county hss high medical care costs so the majority go to glenwood springs. Allows for patients to keep up appointments and allow for easier monitoring of patient health.
Routt county has one modest healthcare facility in the county.
Health disparities: infant mortality rates and healthcare access.
Routt, Moffat, Rio Blanco counties have 8.4% infant mortality whereas Eagle, Pitkin, and Garfield have 4.8%, (almost half of 8.4%).
Valley view hospital’s designation. Telemedicine allows for checkups (both medical, mental, and social) after mom and baby go home. Can reduce premature deaths. Maternal health and infant health are the concern here.
Tractica report: in 2014, 19.7 M teleconsultations. 2020, expected to grow to 158.4 M, at least 8 times more.
Money multiplier analysis: avg. wage for nurse $36.25/hr. Working 50 hrs./week.
Assume total tuition cost for individual at CMC is $16K. And we hire 10 new nurses recently graduated from CMC with a multiplier of 1.6. That is a money generation of $1.5 M (this is just the minimum). Or if just doing analysis for the one nurse from CMC, an addition of $150,000 to the economy for a $16,000 investment.
