Amid ongoing industry shifts, many hospitals and health systems are experiencing significant financial strain, prompting them to make difficult decisions such as laying off employees.
Here are the six healthcare instances of layoffs that Becker’s has reported on since June 19:
1. On June 26, La Junta, Colo.-based Arkansas Valley Regional Medical Center plans to lay off 5% of its employees to help ensure long-term sustainability and stabilize its finances. The hospital pointed to inflationary pressures, declining reimbursement rates and rising operational costs for its decision.
2. San Francisco-based UCSF Health is laying off around 200 positions amid “serious financial challenges.”The layoffs affect roles with the “least impact on patients and daily operations,” a spokesperson told SFGate. Around one-fourth of the employees are part time and the other half are full-time staff with management positions.
3. Los Angeles-based Prospect Medical Holdings will lay off 125 employees at its Orange, Calif.-based Prospect Medical Group location. The layoffs are due to Prospect selling its assets at the facility, according to a June 20 WARN notice obtained by Becker’s. Since November, Prospect has been working to offload 10 of its 16 hospitals amid financial struggles.
4. UC San Diego has laid off around 230 patient care, managerial and administrative roles — less than 2% of its 14,000-person workforce — due to “mounting financial pressures,” according to a June 23 memo sent to employees from CEO Patricia Maysent. She pointed to federal changes affecting healthcare, regulatory instability and escalating care delivery costs which have been exacerbated by Medicaid, Medicare and commercial reimbursement rates that do not cover “the true cost of care.”
5. Nashville, Tenn.-based Vanderbilt University Medical Center plans to lay off up to 650 employees to help cut operating costs by more than $300 million concerning anticipated reductions to Medicaid reimbursement and government-sponsored medical research. In May, VUMC said an unspecified amount of positions would be cut and that hiring would be paused for “most research and administrative positions.”
6. DuBois, Pa.-based Penn Highlands Healthcare laid off 36 positions across two hospitals due to financial issues post-COVID-19. The layoffs affected employees at Penn Highlands Connellsville (Pa.) and Monongahela, Pa.-based Penn Highlands Mon Valley. Of the layoffs, 26 were nonclinical roles.
