UnitedHealth Group's Optum and its subsidiaries reportedly have been laying off employees, including registered nursing positions at nearly 150 of its urgent care facilities.
The first report of layoffs came from former employees with Optum and its subsidiaries who took to social media in August, stating there was an unknown number of layoffs occurring across the company.
A regional senior security manager for Optum's Pacific West region took to Linkedin, saying he was a "part of the worldwide reductions in force by UnitedHealth Group and Optum." An associate director of communications at Optum also took to the platform to say she was "part of a group of layoffs from Optum."
Those were just a few of many employees who via social media described being a part of an Optum workforce reduction.
UnitedHealth has not filed WARN documents with state regulators this month; the Labor Department requires most large companies to publicly report mass layoffs.
"We continually review the capabilities and services we offer to meet the growing and evolving needs of our businesses and the people we serve," UnitedHealth Group told Becker's in a statement. "As always, we will support affected team members with job placement resources and seek to deploy them where possible to any open roles within the company."
The second report of layoffs came Aug. 21. Morgantown, W.Va.-based MedExpress Urgent Care, part of a chain of urgent care clinics owned by Optum, reportedly will eliminate registered nursing positions at nearly 150 facilities.
A MedExpress spokesperson did not confirm or deny the accuracy of the report when reached by Becker's.
"MedExpress continually assesses and evolves our staffing models to better reflect urgent care industry standards," the company told Becker's. "As always, we will support team members affected with job placement resources and seek to deploy them where possible to any open roles within the company."".
An online petition reportedly posted by MedExpress nurses has called on UnitedHealth to reverse its decision. The petition has gathered more than 3,577 signatures as of Aug. 23.