The Jump Trading Simulation and Education Center on OSF HealthCare's Peoria campus has exceeded its projected economic impact over the last decade.
That's according to Joshua Lewer, chair of the economics and finance department at Bradley University. His team forecasted a $30 million economic impact over Jump's first five years in operations. Lewer said the center had an economic impact of $103 million in its first nine years, and created over 600 new full-time jobs.
"We see that we underestimated that," Lewer said. "Jump has overshot these numbers and more. From an economic standpoint, the facility has generated income spending through Illinois and beyond by creating jobs and commerce, medical education and training and generated research and grant activities."
The center serves as the focal point for many of OSF's medical innovation efforts. Michelle Conger is the chief strategy officer for OSF HealthCare and CEO of OnCall Digital Health.
"The health care space, like many others is facing unprecedented challenges, including new entrants into the industry such as Amazon and Walmart, that have mastered the way they interact with people digitally. And all of our expectations about how we receive service have changed. The imperative for change is clear," she said.
Conger highlighted the telehealth options the Peoria-based hospital system has created, including remote patient monitoring and a digital hospital at home program.
Dr. John Vozenilek, vice president of OSF Innovation and chief medical officer for OnCall Digital Health, said the entire center transformed into a pandemic hub during the height of COVID-19.
"We were eventually awarded significant funding from the state and from that initial funding, over $66 million, we were able to really emerge from COVID with an on call service and telehealth services that are actually being able to transform healthcare access and service across Central Illinois," he said.
Chris Setti, CEO of the Greater Peoria Economic Development Council, said about 17% of all jobs in the Peoria metropolitan area are in the health care and social assistance sectors. While many communities of Peoria's size have hospitals, Setti said the innovation efforts at Jump set this city apart.
"What we have here is differentiated services, and something that can attract people here. And what OSF Innovation really is, is a generator of economic progress," he said.
Some projects currently in development include smart mirrors which can check a person's vital signs, and the use of artificial intelligence to project behaviors, medical history, and social determinants of health that may place a patient at risk.
