For most of us, hospitals are places of help and healing.

To those of us working to create a healthy and vibrant economy in Jefferson County, hospitals are so much more.

When people look to join a community, there are a whole host of factors they consider — culture, safety, education, job opportunities and access to health care. Hospitals are a crucial piece of the puzzle on multiple fronts.

The hospitals in Jefferson County and throughout Colorado create jobs, drive innovation and anchor our communities. In Colorado, hospitals provide more than 86,000 jobs, nearly 8% of all jobs in the state. In 2022, they made almost $2 billion in community investments.

In the case of our newest jewel in Jefferson County, the soon-to-open Lutheran Medical Center in Wheat Ridge will have injected an eye-popping $650 million into our local economy.

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But the role of hospitals goes even further. Hospitals are educational and vocational training centers. Health care and allied workers, technicians, custodial staff, administrators and managers all get continuing professional training from the hospitals where they work. These providers and support staff form meaningful relationships with patients and help residents all over our state access the care they need.

The stories and statistics of how much Colorado’s hospitals contribute to our everyday lives could fill, well, a good-sized hospital. Yet despite their widespread positive impact, many of Colorado’s hospitals are struggling. Across the country, hospitals must deal with rapidly increasing costs, record inflation, low government reimbursement rates and worsening workforce shortages even while they continue to offer 24/7 care. As a result of these converging problems, hospitals’ labor and supply expenses have grown more than 30% since 2019. More than 70% of Colorado’s hospitals don’t have sustainable margins. On top of these already unsustainable problems, Denver’s health systems are overrun with new patients, many of whom don’t have health insurance.

Unfortunately, Colorado is not unique in this struggle. Across the country, hospitals and health systems are dealing with the same issues. Part of what makes hospitals so essential is that they treat anyone who walks through their doors at any time of the day. But if hospitals don’t have adequate funding or resources, they may be forced to cut services or close altogether.

Instead of helping hospitals at a time when they desperately need it, some lawmakers in Washington are looking at legislation that would make things even worse. Legislation being considered, like the SITE Act and FAIR Act, would further cut resources for patient care and reduce health care access.

Our mission at the Jefferson County Economic Corporation compels us not only to drive growth and prosperity, but to help protect against adverse conditions that wreak havoc on our economic well-being. Sadly, that is exactly what some federal policies and corporate insurance companies are conspiring to do.

Rather than implement cuts to patient care, policymakers must heed the warning signs and help hospitals before it is too late. In doing so, they will bolster a crucial community resource that will lift up our economy and support our residents.

Jansen Tidmore is executive director of Jefferson County Economic Development Corporation.