Many hospitals across the U.S. are turning to layoffs to right-size their organizations or cut costs as they recover from the financial hit from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Here are eight hospitals and health systems that recently announced employee layoffs or job cuts:
1. Kaiser Permanente is laying off about 200 employees across Northern California as part of a staffing reorganization, the Oakland, Calif.-based health system confirmed. The reorganization will eliminate primarily nonclinical administrative support roles, as well as workers in temporary, on call and per diem positions. The layoffs come as Kaiser changes some of its internal operations and staff structures to standardize processes and reduce duplicative work.
2. Citing a need to ensure future success, Putnam Hospital Center in Carmel, N.Y., will lay off 11 nurses. A majority of the affected nurses work in the hospital's surgical department, according to the report. The nurses were notified April 7. Mark Hirko, MD, president of Putnam Hospital Center, said the layoffs were necessary as it continues to see low patient volumes as the pandemic winds down.
3. Ascension Technologies, the IT subsidiary of St. Louis-based Ascension, plans to lay off an estimated 651 remote workers this year. Ascension Technologies said it will begin working with a third party to take on the tech support for EHR and revenue cycle management responsibilities its employees had been performing.
4. Citing low birth rates at the facility, 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. Hospital officials said they are working to offer affected employees the opportunity to work in other departments of the hospital or sister hospitals.
5. Boca Raton, Fla.-based Cancer Treatment Centers of America plans to close its hospital in Tulsa, Okla., June. 1. About 400 employees will be affected by the closure.
6. Boca Raton, Fla.-based Cancer Treatment Centers of America is selling its hospital in Philadelphia and will lay off the facility's 365 employees, according to a closure notice filed with the state. Cancer Treatment Centers of America said it anticipates the layoffs in Philadelphia will begin after May 30.
7. Community HealthCare System will close the emergency room and all inpatient beds at its hospital facility in St. Marys, Kan., which will eliminate six staff positions. Staff affected by the closure can apply for other positions within the hospital system.
8. Providence Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa, Calif., will lay off 10 employees. The layoffs will affect six emergency department technicians and four cooks. The COVID-19 pandemic had a "profound effect" on the hospital system, including volume and revenue reductions, a Providence spokesperson said.