There are some benefits of having a community hospital close to home that can't be measured, like a relationship with doctors and nurses. But some can, such as the impact the health care center has on the local economy.

A recent study showed that Blue Mountain Health System's impact on Carbon County is more than $174 million, while supporting more than 1,500 jobs.It's a good reminder of what the hospital does as it faces competition and the looming specter of Medicaid cuts."For us it's not just that financial impact, we're taking care of friends and family," said Joe Guardiani, Blue Mountain's vice president for government relations and fund development.A recent study by the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania put the health system's financial impact at $174,370,291 per year. That includes the 800-plus employees who work for the health system in Carbon County, as well as local businesses on which the hospital relies.HAP said that statewide, hospitals have an economic impact of more than $121.4 billion per year."I would say a large majority of that money, that spending is right here in that region, whether it's a vendor with supplies for the laboratory or an employee getting his car worked on," Guardiani said.The hospital is one of the largest employers in the county. Between Gnaden Huetten Hospital in Lehighton and Palmerton Hospital, Blue Mountain has been in business 128 years.But the model of care has changed. Many services that were previously only available at hospitals are now available at urgent care and outpatient clinics. Hospitals offering a wide range of care close to home are becoming rarer.To keep up with trends, the Gnaden Huetten campus is adding its own "Quick Care" center, with an open house from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday."That is the current industry - moving away from inpatient care and toward outpatient for community hospitals whose mission has been providing that soup to nuts care," Guardiani said.Hospitals are also facing a possible loss in public funding, thanks to proposed cuts to Medicare in President Donald Trump's proposed federal budget.The Affordable Care Act expanded the program.In Carbon County, the expanded Medicaid funding has covered some of the charitable care - emergency care for mental health patients and drug and alcohol emergencies. With extra federal funding, they were actually able to provide follow-up care for those patients. If the funding was cut, they would continue to provide basic services. It is a requirement of being a nonprofit community hospital."We're hoping we can rely on the relationship with the community built over the last 120 years," Guardiani said.