Hospitals and health systems are facing many financial pressures this year, and more than half of hospitals are projected to have negative margins for the rest of 2022.
Provider organizations are taking steps to grow revenue and reduce costs, including implementing layoffs and cutting services. Healthcare organizations in Michigan, Colorado and Ohio are among those cutting jobs as they navigate financial challenges.
Citing financial pressures, BHSH System, a 22-hospital organization formed in February through the merger of Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Spectrum Health and Southfield, Mich.-based Beaumont Health, announced 400 job cuts in September.
"Our health system, like others around the nation, is facing significant financial pressures from historic inflation, rising pharmaceutical and labor costs, COVID-19, expiration of CARES Act funding and reimbursement not proportional with expenses," the health system said in a statement to Becker's.
Centura Health is reducing its workforce by 1 percent across Colorado and western Kansas. The Centennial, Colo.-based system, which includes 19 hospitals, cited inflation, supply chain disruptions and labor shortages as some of the most significant challenges it is facing.
In Ohio, St. Vincent Charity Medical Center will lay off 978 employees when it ends many services in November. The Cleveland-based hospital said declining inpatient volumes, the COVID-19 pandemic and other changes in the healthcare landscape have led to significant financial challenges.
Financial pressures and labor challenges are leading many other hospitals and health systems to reduce service offerings. Dozens of hospitals have scaled back care this year with several cutting services in August and September.