Amazon recently announced that it would lay off a few hundred employees at One Medical as well as switch up a leadership position, but One Medical CEO Trent Green told The Washington Post that the moves are not related to the acquisition by Amazon.
Mr. Green told the news outlet Feb. 28 that One Medical remains "independent of Amazon leadership."
Meanwhile, employees at One Medical have expressed surprise upon discovering that the consolidation with Amazon would result in the termination of several hundred positions.
According to the news outlet, some of the roles that were cut were part of departments that had redundancy with Amazon's current resources in areas such as marketing, recruiting and finance. Additionally, roles unique to One Medical, such as front desk staff, office managers, health coaches, behavioral health specialists and a pediatrician, were eliminated, according to current and former employees.
These changes, according to Mr. Green, "reduced administrative tasks for care teams and increased the number of appointments available to members," which allowed "in-office teams to focus on providing care to members."
"The changes we are making today will position One Medical for long-term, sustainable success," Mr. Green said in a February email to staff that was obtained by the Post. "They will help us reposition resources so we can continue providing affordable, high-quality care to a growing number of members and help us take advantage of the resources Amazon has to further integrate our operations and benefit from combined efficiency."
In the same email, Mr. Green also mentioned there would be a new regional general manager position at One Medical.
A physician at One Medical who spoke to the Post on condition of anonymity, expressed apprehension about the introduction of this new role, stating that they are concerned the role could be seen as "an easy answer to any profitability question."
One Medical told the newspaper the regional general managers would collaborate with regional medical directors who report to clinical leadership.