St. Jude's Economic Impact

The type of economic impact that St. Jude has is huge (The Commercial Appeal, 2015). A recent study, conducted by the University of Memphis, showed that St. Jude’s operations created more than $2 billion in economic activity. This activity was powered by 14,710 jobs and brought in more than 70,000 visitors to the city of Memphis. St. Jude and ALSAC employ more than 4,400 people, who contribute to the economy through their residence in Memphis (Park, 2013). In 2015, the hospital revealed a plan that would provide $1.7 billion in capital projects. This includes state-of-the-art patient rooms, a new research building, next generation nuclear magnetic resonance and cryo-electron microscopy instruments. The plan also includes adding 2,000 staffers
to the hospital and ALSAC. This way the hospital could care for more children and enhance their fundraising efforts (The Commercial Appeal, 2015). In Memphis, St. Jude is the second economic development engine behind FedEx.
The growth of St. Jude would mean more permanent jobs. It would attract more talented professionals such as physicians and technology and science workers. It would also create huge benefits for the local entrepreneurs and existing businesses (Charlier, 2015). It would allow the hospital to treat more new patients each year. It would enhance the nonmalignant blood disease programs for children with sickle cell anemia. It would also strengthen the hospital’s laboratory and clinical research efforts and double the number of children enrolled in clinical trials. St. Jude’s expansion plan includes such things as the completion of a proton therapy center, the adding on of three new patient floors at the Kay Research and Care Center, the building of a three-story off-campus data center, research and outpatient and clinical office, the building of additional housing facilities and parking garage and the expansion of the Tamer-Rashid Building for ALSAC (The Commercial Appeal, 2015). Throughout it all, the hospital had not lost its’ focus on their mission, to cure children of childhood cancers (The Commercial Appeal, 2015).

St.
Jude’s global impact is just as huge, if not bigger, as their economy impact. They create more clinical trials for cancer than any other children’s hospital. They freely share research information so that other doctors and scientists can use the information to save even more children around the world (St. Jude, 2017). For example, one of the projects that St. Jude has shared is the Pediatric Cancer Genome Project. This project would lead to the discovering of genetic origins in childhood cancer and the finding of new cures. By sharing such findings, St. Jude is helping other hospitals and institutions worldwide to make advances in curing childhood cancer (St. Jude, 2017). The hospital would also expand their International Outreach Program. They are also funding a global clinical research association. The hospital would set standards for the use of precision medicine to treat childhood cancers and establish a world-class cancer immunotherapy program (Charlier, 2015). In addition, St. Jude would develop an authoritative online site. The site is where cancer patients and their families from all over the world can go and find out where the nearest treatment site is, what is expected after being diagnosis or after treatment, as well as other information. The hospital is also looking for approval to become a degree-granting institution for graduate students who are studying biomedical research (Charlier,
2015).