NASHVILLE, TN – Nashville's healthcare leaders say their companies will invest and grow regardless of the fate of healthcare reform in Washington D.C.

The survey was conducted Jan. 25-29 by Jarrard Phillips Cate & Hancock, a public affairs firm based in Tennessee's capital. Nashville is home to more than 300 healthcare companies and reportedly accounts for approximately $50 billion in revenue.

“The survey echoes what we hear from healthcare executives across all aspects of the industry: We are ready to re-emerge and reinvest,” said David Jarrard, president and chief executive officer of Jarrard Phillips Cate & Hancock.

“While a tremendous amount of uncertainty lingers over healthcare reform, it’s clear that healthcare leaders have carefully evaluated the risks and are ready to move forward to take advantage of the opportunities that lie before them,” he said.

According to the survey:

• 80 percent say Nashville’s healthcare community would benefit or feel no negative impact from delays in a proposed health reform bill.
• The biggest issue that keeps Nashville's healthcare leaders up at night is the state government's deficit, which topped the list at 43 percent. Other issuess include the rising number of the uninsured and the nursing and physician shortage.
• 41 percent of those surveyed identified "voter backlash to big government" as the main cause for delay in healthcare reform in Washington.
• 46 percent specifically blame Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), while 38 percent blame President Barack Obama. Others offered the American people and Fox News as the cause.
• 42 percent of participants predict the next round of healthcare reform will occur in a piecemeal fashion, starting with healthcare insurance.