On Feb. 11, Mass General Brigham appointed William Curry, MD, as chief medical officer of its academic medical centers. The role “consolidates CMO leadership across MGB’s academic medical centers,” with Dr. Curry overseeing CMO duties at Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital and Mass Eye and Ear, the health system said in a news release.
The decision to consolidate executive physician leadership at academic medical centers comes as Mass General Brigham plans to lay off what is expected to be hundreds of employees in two rounds. The first wave of cuts is expected this week, with a second round set for March, officials told The Boston Globe on Feb. 10.
The reductions will primarily affect nonclinical and nonpatient-facing roles, Jennifer Street, Mass General Brigham’s senior vice president for enterprise communications, previously said in a statement to Becker’s. She attributed the layoffs to “unrelenting pressures affecting many health systems across the country” and a $250 million budget gap the organization aims to close within two years.
“We are consolidating certain management and administrative systems throughout the system,” the statement said. “We are acting now to allow us to continue with planned and future investments.”
Mass General Brigham is among the largest employers in Massachusetts, with more than 82,000 employees.
The full scope of the layoffs remains unclear, though some clinical executive roles appear to be affected. The chief nursing officer at Nantucket Cottage Hospital — owned by Mass General Brigham — has reportedly been notified of her layoff, sources told the Nantucket Current on Feb. 11. As of midday Feb. 12, she was no longer listed on the hospital’s leadership page.