With an estimated economic impact of $42.4 billion, the health care and biosciences industry continues to be a huge contributor to the San Antonio economy, according to a study commissioned by the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce.
With a total workforce of 7,100, an operating budget of nearly $1 billion and missions of teaching, research and patient care, UT Health San Antonio is viewed as the catalyst for the local health care industry.
The study, conducted by Trinity University professors Richard V. Butler, PhD, and Mary Stefl, PhD, states that nearly one of every five San Antonio employees works in the health care and bioscience industry, which paid $10.4 billion in wages and salaries to 187,825 employees in 2019.
The overall economic impact of $42.4 billion in 2019 is a 74% increase over 2009, and nearly 50,000 new jobs in the industry have been added in the past decade.
The close connection between UT Health San Antonio and the military presence in San Antonio is singled out in the report.
“UT Health San Antonio leads the world’s largest research group focused on combat-related PTSD and related conditions, with more than $150 million dedicated to 60 related research projects,” the study said. And, it added, “UT Health San Antonio’s Military Health Institute serves as a conduit for military-civilian information exchange, helping implement lessons from the battlefield to the civilian setting—and placing medical innovations into the hands of service members.”
Recent innovations in the industry, such as the San Antonio Partnership for Precision Therapeutics, created by the presidents of UT Health San Antonio, Southwest Research Institute, Texas Biomedical Research Institute and The University of Texas at San Antonio, were also cited. The partnership “is a novel generator for advanced and timely biomedical breakthroughs that accelerate the delivery of life-saving treatment options,” the study said.