Community Hospital Long Beach (Calif.) plans to lay off employees early next year, according to a notice recently filed with state regulators.
The hospital said the 328 layoffs are set to begin after Jan. 31, 2022, and may come in stages, according to the notice. The layoffs are a result of Community Hospital Long Beach ending acute care and closing its emergency department.
The layoffs are expected to affect many positions, including nurses and other medical staff. The company said "circumstances will dictate" whether 31 additional jobs are cut.
Community Hospital Long Beach's operator, MWN Community Hospital, announced in early November that the facility is ending acute medical services and closing its emergency department. At that time, the transition was expected to take several months.The hospital said Nov. 16 that it is accelerating the timeline because of staffing challenges and will fully close the ED Nov. 24.
MWN is planning to transition the hospital into a behavioral health and wellness facility named Long Beach Community Wellness Campus. The transition will allow the hospital to avoid about $75 million in construction costs to bring it into compliance with California's seismic requirements for acute care hospitals.