Health Care

Key Findings in Nonprofit Health Care Employment, 1995-2018:

  • Health care employment in Indiana grew 45 percent over the 1995-2018 period. In 2018, almost 380,000 workers were employed in the health care industry in Indiana, up from almost 263,000 in 1995. By comparison, Indiana’s total paid employment increased by only 13 percent, from 2.7 million in 1995 to 3.1 million in 2018.
  • Nonprofit health care employment grew even faster, up by 62 percent from 1995 to 2018, up by 63,000 additional employees from 101,000 in 1995 to 164,000 in 2018. By 2018, nonprofits employed 43 percent of all paid employees in the health care industry, up from 39 percent in 1995. For-profit paid employment grew by 55 percent and government paid employment decreased by 27 percent in the same period.
  • Nonprofit employment in health care grew at an average annual rate of 2.1 percent between 1995 and 2018 and increased every year during the 24 years, except for 2004 and 2014.
  • For-profit employment in health care grew at a slower annual rate—1.9 percent between 1995 and 2018, while government employment declined at an average annual rate of -1.3 percent. For-profit growth in health care slowed significantly after 2010 to an average of 1.2 percent, down from 2.4 percent from 1995 to 2009. Government employment in health care has decreased for 16 of the 24 years between 1995 and 2018.
  • Nonprofit payroll for health care more than doubled to $9.6 billion in 2018, up from $4.1 billion in 1995 (in constant dollars). Nonprofit payroll in health care has increased ever year since 1995 (by an average of 3.8 percent), but the rate of growth has varied. For 8 of the 24 years, annual growth was less than 2 percent, but exceeded 6 percent for another 5 years.
  • Each of the three health care subindustries show distinct patterns of nonprofit paid employment between 1995-2018. Hospitals account for most nonprofit jobs in the health care industry and those jobs have grown rapidly. Somewhat fewer nonprofit employees work in ambulatory health care services have, but that number has also increased significantly. The smallest of the three, nonprofit nursing and residential care services, has grown only slowly between 1995 and 2018. There are also distinctive patterns for specialty services within each of the three subindustries.

Key Findings in Nonprofit Health Care, 1995‐2011:

  • Health care, consistently the largest industry of the Indiana nonprofit sector, employed on average 54 percent of all nonprofit employees and provided 62 percent of nonprofit payroll.
  • Payroll of health care nonprofits grew nearly 65 percent (from about $3.5 billion to $5.8 billion adjusted for inflation) between 1995 and 2011, faster than that of the government or for‐profit sectors. Moreover, nonprofit payroll grew consistently and exhibited countercyclical trends, helping support the Indiana economy even during economic downturns.
  • During the time period, average annual wages of nonprofit health care workers in Indiana grew 21 percent, more than those of for‐profit workers (1 percent), but less than those of government workers (29 percent). In 2011, nonprofit wages averaged $42,100, while for‐profit wages were $41,200 and government wages were the highest at $44,600.
  • From 1995 to 2011, health care nonprofits had the largest average establishment size of all major Indiana nonprofit industries, averaging 140 employees per establishment in 2011. This pattern reflects the labor‐intensive nature of hospitals, a nonprofit‐dominated sub‐industry.