The financial challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic forced hundreds of hospitals across the nation to furlough, lay off or reduce pay for workers, and others have had to scale back services or close.
Lower patient volume, canceled elective procedures and higher expenses tied to the pandemic have created a cash crunch for some hospitals, and hospitals are taking a number of steps to offset financial damage. More than 260 hospitals and health systems furloughed workers in the last year, and many others implemented layoffs.
Below are 20 hospitals and health systems that announced layoffs this year. Some of the layoffs were attributed to financial strain caused by the pandemic.
1. Mishawaka, Ind.-based Franciscan Health will lay off 83 employees Aug. 21, according to a notice filed with the state. The layoffs will occur at the system's hospital in Hammond, Ind. Franciscan said it also plans to close departments at the hospital.
2. Paradise Valley Hospital in National City, Calif., will close its obstetrics, labor and delivery and newborn nursing units by Aug. 4. The closures will affect about 40 employees.
3. Kaiser Permanente is laying off about 200 employees in Northern California as part of a staffing reorganization, the Oakland, Calif.-based health system confirmed in a statement to Becker's Hospital Review in May. The reorganization will eliminate primarily nonclinical administrative support roles, as well as workers in temporary, on-call and per diem positions.
4. Renown Health is laying off 166 employees to align the size of its workforce with patient volume, the Reno, Nev.-based system said in July. Renown, which has more than 7,000 employees, also implemented a hiring freeze on 176 open positions. The layoffs affect workers in management and administration, and the system said it continues to recruit for clinical roles.
5. St. Mary's Healthcare announced in June that it is scaling back its workforce in some areas and adding staff in others, according to The Recorder. The Amsterdam, N.Y.-based system said it expects to lay off less than five employees and enter voluntary separation agreements with 13 other workers. The system, which has nearly 1,600 employees, added more than 60 employees to its central administrative staff after it split with St. Louis-based Ascension last year, according to the report.
6. Community HealthCare System closed the emergency room and inpatient beds at its hospital facility in St. Marys, Kan., in June, which eliminated six staff positions.
7. Sutter Health said in early June it plans to lay off 400 employees. The layoffs are in addition to 277 information technology jobs that were cut April 2.
8. HealthAlliance of the Hudson Valley, a three-hospital system in the Westchester Medical Center Health Network, laid off an undisclosed number of workers June 14.
9. Boca Raton, Fla.-based Cancer Treatment Centers of America closed its hospital in Tulsa, Okla., June. 1. About 400 employees were affected by the closure.
10. Putnam Hospital Center in Carmel, N.Y., notified 11 nurses in April that they would be laid off. Mark Hirko, MD, president of Putnam Hospital Center, said the layoffs were necessary due to low patient volume.
11. Providence Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa, Calif., said in April that it will lay off 10 employees. The layoffs will affect six emergency department technicians and four cooks.
12. Boca Raton, Fla.-based Cancer Treatment Centers of America sold its facility in Philadelphia and laid off 365 employees May 30, according to a closure notice filed with the state.
13. The outgoing owners of Providence Behavioral Health Hospital in Holyoke, Mass., laid off the hospital's 151 employees, effective April 20, according to MassLive.
14. Hialeah (Fla.) Hospital closed its maternity ward and laid off 62 employees April 5, according to a notice filed with the state. Most of those affected by the layoffs are registered nurses.
15. Philadelphia-based Tower Health laid off 15 workers at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, including four physicians, in March, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. Tower Health ended the second half of last year with an operating loss of $31 million, according to the report.
16. Olympia Medical Center in Los Angeles closed March 31. The closure resulted in the layoffs of 451 employees.
17. Plattsburgh, N.Y.-based Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital said in March that it planned to cut 60 jobs. The hospital, which is facing a $6.5 million deficit in fiscal year 2021, said the cuts include 10 people who were laid off or had permanent hour reductions, 12 people who are planning retirement, and the rest are open positions that will not be filled.
18. Brattleboro Retreat, a psychiatric and addiction treatment hospital in Vermont, announced in January that it eliminated 19 positions and created 10 new ones, according to VTDigger.
19. Dallas-based Baylor Scott & White Health announced in January that it would outsource, lay off or retrain 1,700 employees who work in information technology, billing, revenue cycle management and other support services. About two-thirds of the 1,700 employees joined third-party RCM, IT, billing or support staff vendors. About 600 positions were eliminated.
20. Minneapolis-based Children's Minnesota laid off 150 employees, or about 3 percent of its workforce. Children's Minnesota cited several reasons for the layoffs, including the financial hit from the COVID-19 pandemic. Affected employees ended their employment either Dec. 31, 2020, or March 31.