Since 2001, one out of five jobs in the El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento and Yolo counties has been in the health care/biosciences cluster. And since 2001, that cluster’s employment has grown 22 percent.

Those were just two highlights from the Metro Chamber’s Health Care & Biosciences Economic Impact Report. A preview of the report was delivered July 17 by UC Davis Medical Center CEO Ann Rice at the Metro Chamber-Sacramento Business Journal Health Care breakfast, attended by more than 250 participants. Full details of the impact report, commissioned by the Metro Chamber, will be released in August.

So huge is the scale of the health care/biosciences cluster that it accounts for $33.5 billion in economic activity throughout the region, supporting more than 240,000 jobs in 2007.

“Not only are there a lot of jobs,” Rice explained, “these are well paying jobs, with wages 40 percent higher” than the regional average. Based on 2007 data, the study shows that the average salary in the sector is $59,000 compared to the overall average salary of $42,000 in the region.

Analysis for the study was conducted by Applied Development Economics, with financial support from Sutter Health, Mercy/CHW, Kaiser Permanente, UC Davis Health System, Western Health Advantage and Burger Rehabilitation.

What Makes Up Health Care and Biosciences Cluster?

• Core: Hospitals, practitioners, labs, medical instruments
• Supplier: Drugs, insurance services, data processing, industrial chemicals

What Are the Breakdowns by Percentage?

• Hospitals: 29%
• Insurance and Medical Services 23%
• Doctors and other practitioners: 15%
• Drugs, Industrial Chemicals: 13%
• Other Core Sector: 9%
• Long-term Care: 6%
• Research: 5%

What’s Are the Next Steps?

• Consumer-oriented briefing regarding the value of the industry’s output
• Leverage the strength of the health care/biosciences cluster through coordinated advocacy
• Support the industry cluster through coordinated advocacy