(February 2026) – A robust health care system is essential not only for the health and welfare of community residents, but also for economic opportunities. Evidence shows that quality health care improves business productivity, supports business recruitment and retention and attracts and retains retirees. These are just a few of the findings from the January 2026 report, The Importance of the Health Care Sector to the Kansas Economy.

This annual report, conducted by the Institute for Policy & Social Research at the University of Kansas, is important to highlight at a time when numerous national studies identified Kansas as the state with the highest percentage of hospitals in financial jeopardy.

Despite an increasingly challenging financial environment, Kansas hospitals continue to have an essential economic impact on Kansas communities. According to the 2026 economic report, hospitals alone employ more than 76,000 Kansans and generate nearly $7 billion in direct labor income. The hospital sector has a large multiplier effect, with every 100 hospital jobs supporting an additional 74 jobs in non-health care sectors. Every $1,000 in current hospital wages and salaries sustains an additional $475 in income for employees of grocery stores, restaurants, gas and electric utilities and other industries that hospitals and their employees use.

As efforts to enhance and sustain Kansas’s economic development continue, new partnerships between economic development and Kansas hospitals support critical programs that help hospitals maintain financial sustainability. Programs such as the Rural Health Transformation Program and the 340B Program are critical to the success of health care delivery and to economic prosperity across Kansas. Learn more about these programs and the economic impact of hospitals at KHA-net.org.