Officials at Muskogee Regional Medical Center plan to form a task force to increase the impact of area health care business on the local economy.

MRMC Chief Executive Officer Steve Mahan announced the plan Thursday at a presentation given by financial specialists from Oklahoma State University.

The group will start with invitations sent to people who attended the presentation, and it’s work will take four to seven months, he said.

“Ultimately, it may result in services being offered that the public is looking for,” Mahan said.

Jack Frye, an OSU rural development specialist, said during the presentation that the health care sector makes up 23.6 percent of the Muskogee County payroll. It makes up 22.6 percent of total county employment.

“You want to keep as much of your health care delivery in the community as you can,” he said.

Frye said there is a national movement toward managed care that can cause people to bypass local health care providers and go to larger cities. Groups like the one being formed by MRMC can counteract this trend, he said.

The presentation on the economic impact of the health care sector on the MRMC service area revealed several facts:

• Health services promote job growth.

• Health services foster rural development.

• Health services attract retirees who generally have a stable income.

• Per capita health sector employment is going up.

Lara L. Brooks, OSU assistant extension state specialist, said there are economic drivers called multipliers that increase the impact of health care services. She gave several examples:

• Although the health sector directly employs 2,742 people in the MRMC service area, the result of related jobs is an actual total of 4,204 jobs.

• The health sector generates income of $137,766,309. By the time that is multiplied throughout the area economy, the total amount is $191,516,929.