Tell City, Ind.-based Perry County Memorial Hospital confirmed it laid off seven employees Thursday.
The hospital attributed the layoffs to various factors, such as declining reimbursements, rising operating expenses and the healthcare industry's shift toward outpatient care.
PCMH cut operating costs in the past, but the layoffs were the next necessary step to improve its financial picture, hospital officials said in a statement to Becker's Hospital Review. The organization recorded an operating income of $704,120 for the first four months of 2017, nearly $200,000 less than the $895,662 budgeted for the period, according to a Perry County News report.
PCMH said many of the affected employees received the opportunity to apply for other open hospital positions.
In the future, hospital officials said PCMH "will continue to provide quality care, improved access and expand services to meet community needs." They specifically cited a number of initiatives in the works, such as the hiring of several nurse practitioners and the opening of Quick Care Clinic in Tell City.
"PCMH's providers are accepting new patients. A tele-psychiatry program is scheduled to begin June 1 and negotiations are in the final stages to provide orthopedic services later this year," they added. Also, "PCMH, in partnership with Tri State Community Clinics, was selected to provide a wellness clinic to Tell City Schools. The wellness clinic is scheduled to begin in January 2018. Recruitment for additional physicians to join the hospital continues."