WILLIAMSBURG — Members of the Greater Williamsburg Chamber of Commerce received a presentation on The State of Greater Williamsburg Tuesday morning at Colonial Heritage.
The event, Presented by Sentara Regional Medical Center, aimed to provide insight into the region’s economic health, workforce trends, business growth, and state of healthcare.
Healthcare
A look at the state of healthcare in the region was presented by Dr. Amber Price, president of Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center. Price spoke about the wide range of medical facilities available in the Greater Williamsburg area — including a level 2 trauma facility in Newport News — yet noted the perception of many is that they must travel outside the area for healthcare.
One unique challenge the Peninsula faces is the senior population, citing statistics that while 16% of Virginia’s population is over 65, in Williamsburg, that number is 23%. She noted that on the Peninsula, there are 106,000 people aged 65 or over, and 54% of annual healthcare spending comes from people over the age of 55. Medicare patients make up 62% of the patients at the hospitals, while less than 10% are on Medicaid and the rest are commercially insured. Price emphasized that this is a major factor that needs to be considered for medical infrastructure — including transport.
She added the number of people over the age 65 will continue to grow until 2060 and is projected to grow by 30% up to 2030.
On a national level, she said Becker’s Hospital Review predicted 700 hospital closings in the near future — in Virginia 8 hospitals are slated to close, 7 imminently— but stressed that none were on the peninsula. Price blamed significant financial pressure on hospitals brought on by COVID-19 as a culprit, adding the pandemic has also forced hospitals how to reevaluate how healthcare is used and delivered.
“When the pandemic hit, people stopped utilizing their healthcare. Everyone stayed home, nobody came in unless they were super super sick. A lot of fear was created, healthcare was politicized terribly and it really impacted trust base from the consumer with the healthcare system, and that is still an issue today,” Price explained.
“We’ve lost trust. And for decades nurses and doctors were the most trusted people in the United States, if you asked people, who do you trust, it was doctors and nurses, but something broke down during the pandemic and that trust base went away,” she continued.
Since the pandemic, it has been noted that more and more people are waiting until they are severely ill before seeing a doctor, causing an uptick in emergency room visits and in patient admissions. She said this means beds are staying fuller but reimbursements haven’t changed. She also emphasized that healthcare is the only business that cannot set its own prices, using the prices of medication as an example and how a hospital is forced to eat the added expense of inflated drug prices.
She also lamented a shortage of healthcare workers, with fewer people going into the field as they have in the past, as well as the expectations doctors have today for work-life balance and pay for their time to see their patients. This is felt the worst in specialty fields such as Neurology and Radiology, she added.
Price said things are looking up, however, with increased recruitment. She also touched on how robotics is improving procedures, resulting in fewer invasive procedures, as well as how AI is used to help find anomalies in tests, helping doctors.
Sentara Williamsburg aims to become a level III Trauma center in 2025, among other improvements.
Real Estate
Ryan Price, the current Chief Economist with the Virginia Realtor Association, presented a look at the region’s real estate market. His presentation included housing trends, sales, and income needed in order to own a home in the current market.
“Unbalanced” is the word he used to describe the current market as well as “hyper-competitive” and a “little wacky.” He emphasized that there is a connection between housing and jobs, and that it is necessary to have a healthy housing market to support a strong workforce.
Currently, Virginia’s housing market is still growing but at a noticeably slower rate. Since COVID-19, data shows that many are moving to different parts of Virginia, and a smaller number of people moving in. York and James City Counties are currently still growing, he said, but Williamsburg is shrinking.
He added that mortgage rates are driving the market. The rate is currently still hovering higher than expected — around 6-7% percent compared to the expected sub-4% in years prior. Rates peaked at 8% around this time last year.
Price said a reason that is happening is due to the lock-in effect, where homeowners who were fortunate enough to own their home during 2020-21 and were able to refinance into very low interest rates are now sitting on them. Virginia homeowners, on average, have around a 4% interest rate compared to the 6.5% today.
The more time that passes, the weaker the lock-in effect will be, he said, adding this is due to both life events forcing people to sell, as well as interest rates becoming closer to what they were.
Demand for housing is still steady, however, which is increasing the price of the supply, as there is a small amount available on the market. The local market shows those who are selling are either moving out of Virginia or downsizing, while a small percentage are move-up buyers.
James City County has the most listings, with York County holding steady and Williamsburg seeing a downturn. Currently, the average is under three months to sell in the area, indicating it is a seller’s market. However, the unbalance is due to a flat number of building permits compared to states that produce more housing, particularly in Georgia and North Carolina.
“[Virginia Labor Force] is going to want to own their home at some point in their career. And if they can’t own it here, we’re seeing they’re starting to leave,” Ryan Price said. “We have a risk that that competitive advantage we have [for desirable labor] is starting to weaken because of the supply shortage.”
Even with a slowdown in the market, prices are still increasing with the supply-demand imbalance. In Virginia, the median sale price in $415,000. James City County is approaching a median home price of $500,000. The area is seeing a growing affordability challenge as prices continue to increase in the area, he said.
A study by Virginia REALTORS showed 25- to 44-year-olds are consistently unable to afford median-priced homes for areas with mortgage rates and taxes factored in.
Locally, millennials make on average $42,000 less than what they need to buy a median home in James City County, $8,500 less in York County and $55,000 less in Williamsburg.
The Workplace
Ken White, Associate Dean, MBA & Executive Programs at William & Mary Raymond A. Mason School of Business, made a presentation on the State of Workplace. White oversees William & Mary’s in-person MBA, one-year master’s, and corporate/executive programs.
White said the workplace has changed over the last five years, as have aspects of business and employee engagement. He noted that in May, over half of U.S. employees were open to or actively seeking a new job.
In the first quarter of this year, U.S. employee engagement reached an 11-year low, with only one in three employees engaged — involved in and enthusiastic about their work — in their job. He said there has been an increase in the desire for benefits among working-class employees.
White said employees who are engaged know what is expected of them, but according to surveys, he said many employees don’t on a regular basis.
He added that many younger employees — aged 20-25 — have never worked a job before, and lack the preparation for being a professional.
White said when William & Mary MBA students started being taught the pillars of professionalism, which have been adopted by 50 different companies and corporations, and it was explained to them what was expected of them every day, within a matter of months, employers, alumni, and teachers saw a difference.
“This is what we need to be teaching folks who don’t quite get how to be a professional,” he said.
White said when asked, CEOs and leaders said communication was heavily desired. Substance, appearance, initiative, and details were also key. When accomplished, he said engagement increases, work increases and employees become more sought after.
The State of Greater Williamsburg
According to the Chamber, the event aimed to celebrate successes, identify future opportunities, and address community challenges in the greater Williamsburg area. The presentations on the current state of healthcare, the real estate market, and the workplace reveal that while the pandemic still looms large, the region has seen successes as it continues on a path to recovery.
