Industry Spotlight: Healthcare in Baltimore
To most outsiders, Baltimore is the offbeat, charming, crab-loving cousin sandwiched between Philly and DC. While Charm City’s provincial peculiarities are both famous (John Waters’ Hairspray) and infamous (David Simon’s cult classic HBO drama The Wire), what non-Baltimoreans may not realize is that the Clipper City is also a hotbed for the healthcare industry.
According to an article published by the Baltimore bureau of tourism, the city “ranks 3rd nationally in the concentration of U.S. health-care service employees [with] more than 189,000 healthcare professionals employed in the region.” According to a Baltimore Magazine article, “The growth of hospitals was encouraged by sweeping regulatory changes in the 1980’s. Across the state, the number of hospital employees has more than doubled since 1972 to 84,000 today.”
Major Players: Healthcare in Baltimore
Baltimore’s #1 employer is also widely regarded as one of the best hospitals in the world. Many standard hospital practices took shape at Johns Hopkins, including rounds and residents. Johns Hopkins houses nearly 1,700 doctors and 30,000 total employees.
French for “good health,” this general medical and surgical hospital has the largest renal dialysis center in Baltimore. The $3.8 billion nonprofit Bon Secours Health System, of which Bon Secours Baltimore is part, employs over 25,000 Marylanders.
UMMC is Baltimore’s third largest employer, with over 14,800 total employees. Founded in 1823, UMMC is one of the country’s oldest academic medical centers and a national and regional referral center for trauma, cancer care, cardiac care, neurocare, women’s and children’s health, and organ transplantation.
The #2 hospital in the state of Maryland, Mercy is locally renowned for its commitment to education and the Baltimore community at large. Mercy employs just over 3,800.
Founded in 1862, Saint Agnes Hospital is one of Baltimore’s most prestigious teaching hospitals. “Built on a strong foundation of excellent medical care and compassion, Saint Agnes and the physicians who practice here are committed to providing the best care for patients.”
GBMC handles more than “26,700 inpatient cases and approximately 60,000 emergency room visits annually” across its facilities throughout the Baltimore area, “including Hunt Manor, Hunt Valley, Owings Mills, Texas Station, Perry Hall and Parkton.” GMBC currently employs 3,900.
MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center is a major community teaching hospital, whose emergency department treats “more than 108,000 patients annually.” MedStar Franklin Square employs nearly 3,000, “including over 1,000 nurses and 400 staff physicians.”
Sheppard Pratt is one of the nation’s top mental health programs, according to U.S. News & World Report. SP “provides compassionate solutions to help those suffering from mental illness recover and get back to their lives.” SP strives to “provide patients with a continuum of care that can include inpatient hospitalization, partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient treatment, outpatient referrals, and housing and rehabilitation services, as needed.” Sheppard Pratt currently employs 1,913 Baltimoreans.
About the Author
Jonathan Pfeffer
Jonathan Pfeffer joined the Clear Admit and MetroMBA teams in 2015 after spending several years as an arts/culture writer, editor, and radio producer. In addition to his role as contributing writer at MetroMBA and contributing editor at Clear Admit, he is co-founder and lead producer of the Clear Admit MBA Admissions Podcast. He holds a BA in Film/Video, Ethnomusicology, and Media Studies from Oberlin College.
