Spirit Lake, IA (KICD)– Lakes Regional Healthcare in Spirit Lake has released numbers showing the economic impact it created for the local area in 2022.

President and CEO Jason Harrington says the 34.6 million dollars spent locally is only part of the story that really does not get talked about all that often.

Harrington says the numbers compiled for the most part only take hospital spending with outside agencies into account.

To put into perspective the impact facilities like Lakes Regional Healthcare have on the local economy, the healthcare industry across Iowa employs around 145 thousand people and accounted for over 21 billion dollars of the state’s gross domestic product as of 2022.