Presque Isle, Maine-based Northern Light AR Gould Hospital, part of Brewer, Maine-based Northern Light Health, is cutting positions in an effort to streamline operations, improve care access and reduce expenses.
While the hospital did not share a specific number of employees affected, Jay Reyonlds, MD, president of Northern Light AR Gould Hospital said in an Aug. 15 statement shared with Becker's that some of the positions being laid off are management.
"No inpatient nursing positions were cut," Dr. Reynolds said. "The reductions were limited so patient care would not be affected."
Dr. Reynolds also pointed to local and national challenges such as high labor costs, increased supply costs, and reduced commercial and government insurance provider reimbursements for some of the difficult decisions the hospital has had to make.
Affected staff were encouraged to reach out to the hospital's human resources professionals to review some of the "hundreds of open positions" the health system said it is looking to fill.
Northern Light Health comprises 10 hospitals, with more than 127 locations and over 1,020 providers, according to its website.
News of the layoffs comes after Northern Light Health shared that it will close an internal medicine facility in Dexter, Maine, on Sept. 30 due to the building no longer meeting care standards. Employees affected by the closure will be offered other area Northern Light positions.
The health system also recently shared plans to close its primary care practice in Southwest Harbor on Aug. 30, which will relocate and combine with a larger Ellsworth, Maine, primary care practice. Its Orono, Maine, primary care practice closed Jan. 1, Bangor Daily News reported.