Economic Impact of Rwandan Hospital on Its Community Is Examined Pro Bono by Analysis Group at Request of PIH

Partners in Health (PIH), a Boston-based non-profit organization that provides quality healthcare services in the poorest areas of developing countries, has worked in Rwanda since early 2005—eleven years after the genocide that devastated one of the poorest countries in the world. Early in 2011, PIH opened the Butaro Hospital in northern Rwanda, a 150-bed facility that employed more than 3,500 workers from the community during construction and that sourced materials locally whenever possible.

An Analysis Group team led by president Pierre Cremieux, who serves on PIH's Board of Trustees, and including senior economist Markus von Wartburg and senior analyst Ellery Berk, conducted an analysis of the economic impact of the Butaro Hospital's construction and operation on the Rwandan economy. Using the standard and widely applied input-output methodology and data from the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda, the study estimates that the direct and indirect effects from the construction of the hospital led to an employment impact of over 4,400 job-years in the Rwandan economy. The total impact when including induced employment (arising from the increased spending of individuals and households whose income is directly or indirectly tied to the Butaro Hospital) is estimated at 21,800 job-years. The annual recurring direct and indirect employment impact of the hospital's operation is estimated at 680 jobs, with the total annual employment impact (including induced effects) estimated at 6,200 jobs. PIH and the Analysis Group team are currently drafting a paper on the study intended for publication in a journal.