Boston Medical Center is furloughing 700 staff members, or 10 percent of its workforce, due to financial losses from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to The Boston Globe.
The hospital has postponed elective procedures to ensure it has the capacity and supplies to treat patients with COVID-19. As a result, it is expecting a sudden and drastic drop in revenue, according to the report.
Kate Walsh, CEO of Boston Medical Center, told The Globe that the hospital has lost about $5 million in revenue per week, and that the furloughs will help save the system about $1 million per week.
"We have reassigned a number of staff members and made the difficult decision to furlough approximately 10 percent of our health system workforce," Ms. Walsh told The Globe."Although furloughed employees will cease to work temporarily, they will remain in active status with the expectation of returning."
Most affected employees are in administrative roles, not front-line caregivers, the medical center said.
Furloughed employees will not be paid while they are not working unless they use vacation time or sick leave. Ms. Walsh told The Globe she expected vacation time and sick leave to provide affected employees about one month of pay.
Employees will continue to have insurance during the furlough, according to the report.