26 hospitals bringing back furloughed employees

Many U.S. hospitals and health systems have furloughed staff to help offset revenue losses from the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, some are starting to bring furloughed workers back as they resume nonemergency procedures and medical appointments. 

Here are 26 reported in June, July and August: 

Editor's note: This is not an exhaustive list. 

August

1. Chillicothe, Ohio-based Adena Health System placed about 580 workers on furlough in April. On Aug. 31, Adena ended furloughs for all employees.

2. Hyannis, Mass.-based Cape Cod Healthcare furloughed 595 employees in May due to reduced patient volumes and financial losses related to the pandemic. On Aug. 28, the health system announced that it has recalled 477 of the 595 furloughed workers, and 118 will be laid off.

3. University of Chicago Medical Center furloughed more than 800 employees in May. Hospital officials told Becker's Hospital Review Aug. 26 that the furloughs ended and no other layoffs or further furloughs have been announced.

4. Little Rock, Ark.-based Baptist Health has brought back furloughed workers and reversed reductions in benefits, President and CEO Troy Wells told news website Talk Business & Politics in August. As of the end of July, Baptist Health brought its workforce back, and it has also restored some of the retirement benefits the health system stopped in April, Mr. Wells told the news website.

5. Springfield, Ill.-based Hospital Sisters Health System said it plans to reduce its workforce by 10 percent, including some employees who were furloughed in late April. The health system said most employees will return to work, but it cannot bring them all back.

6. Akron, Ohio-based Summa Health brought back 654 employees it furloughed throughout the spring. As of Aug. 4, 74 employees remained on furlough.

7. Hartford-based Connecticut Children's Medical Center furloughed hundreds of employees during the pandemic, and most are back at work, CEO James Shmerling told the Hartford Business Journal.

July

8. Southfield, Mich.-based Beaumont Health brought back 1,360 furloughed employees. The health system furloughed 2,475 workers in April.

9. Fayetteville, N.C.-based Cape Fear Valley Health brought back 721 furloughed employees. In March, the health system furloughed 783 employees to help offset financial damage from the COVID-19 pandemic. Cape Fear Valley said other furloughed workers were laid off permanently.

10. Columbia Memorial Hospital in Astoria, Ore., said July 28 that it reinstated 34 of the 90 positions the hospital furloughed.

11. Fayetteville, Ark.-based Washington Regional Medical Center revealed plans to bring back all 305 furloughed workers.

12. Sarasota (Fla.) Memorial Health Care System brought back 640 furloughed workers.

13. Daytona Beach, Fla.-based Halifax Health laid off 95 of the nearly 400 Halifax Health staffers furloughed in April. The remaining furloughed employees are starting to return to work, and those not affected by the layoffs will be back by Aug. 1. 

14. Elmira, N.Y.-based Arnot Health said it brought back about half of the about 400 people it furloughed in mid-April, according to WETM-TV.

15. Guthrie Clinic said most furloughed staff have returned to the Sayre, Pa.-based health system, according to WETM-TV .

16. Charlottesville-based University of Virginia Health System will end some of its pandemic-related furloughs and pay cuts by the end of July and others in August.

17. Holyoke (Mass.) Medical Center brought back nearly 170 of 250 furloughed employees at the start of July, and another 80 to 90 are expected to return at month's end, President and CEO Spiros Hatiras told BusinessWest.

June

18. MUSC Health, an eight-hospital system based in Charleston, S.C., called back nearly half of the employees who had been furloughed.

19. Lewiston-based Central Maine Healthcare recalled about three-quarters of its 300 employees furloughed in April, spokesperson Kate Carlisle told the Sun Journal

20. Lewiston, Maine-based St. Mary's Health System has recalled 80 percent to 85 percent of its 77 employees furloughed in April, spokesperson Steve Costello told the Sun Journal. Others are expected to return in July.

21. About 3,000 furloughed workers at hospitals in the Dayton, Ohio, region were called back to work, according to the Springfield News-Sun. As of June 24, 2,606 workers remained on furlough, Sarah Hackenbracht, CEO of the Greater Dayton Area Hospital Association, told the newspaper. Initially, 5,648 hospital employees were furloughed in the 11-county region during the pandemic.

22. As of June 1, Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center in Ogdensburg, N.Y., brought back 34 employees, including nurses and staff for surgery, according to WWNY-TV. This is out of about 175 employees who were furloughed in April. 

23. St. Lawrence Health System, a three-hospital system in Potsdam, N.Y., called 80 furloughed employees back to work as of June 1, according to WWNY-TV. The health system furloughed about 400 workers.

24. St. Joseph's Health in Syracuse, N.Y., brought back 135 workers as of June 1, according to Syracuse.com. The organization, a member of Livonia, Mich.-based Trinity Health, furloughed 500 employees in April.

25. Crouse Health in Syracuse, N.Y., an affiliate of New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health, brought back 63 of its 278 furloughed workers as of June 1, according to Syracuse.com

26. Lewis County Health System CEO Gerald Cayer said June 12 the Lowville, N.Y.-based organization will end the eight-week furlough that put 14 percent of its workforce on unpaid leave, according to nny360.com. Ten furloughed employees had returned to work as of June 12, and Mr. Cayer said other employees would return to work beginning June 21.

 

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