Pittsburgh-based UPMC is offering buyouts to employees who are 60 or older and have worked with the system for at least 10 years, according a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review report.
UPMC is offering buyouts to 3,500 employees, or 5.6 percent of the system's workforce. The voluntary severance package includes medical and dental benefits along with a one-time cash payment of $15,000, according to the report. It was not extended to executives, physicians, advanced care providers, workers covered by a union agreement and workers in the insurance division, according to the report.
Workers have until June 12 to decide whether to accept the offer. A UPMC spokesperson said the system does not have a minimum number of employees it wants to accept and plans to "accept the majority of employees interested in volunteering for the program."
In a statement, UPMC officials said the program "honors and respects long-term staff members who are ready to move to the next phase in life" while also helping with cost-savings by adjusting the workforce to meet reduced demands.
For the first three months that ended March 31, the 22-hospital system reported operating income of $20.2 million, down 68 percent from $64 million for the same period a year ago. Its operating revenue increased to nearly $3 billion in the three-month period that ended March 31, up 5.6 percent from the same period of last year.
UPMC has approximately 62,000 workers, making it the largest private employer in the state.