The nation's largest children's hospital is laying off approximately 1,000 employees, including front-line healthcare workers and those in leadership positions, The Houston Chronicle reported Aug. 6.
In all, Houston-based Texas Children's Hospital is laying off 5% of its workforce. While the hospital did not confirm exact numbers, Linda Aldred, executive vice president and chief human resources officer at Texas Children's, told the news outlet that the organization has around 20,000 employees across 120 locations across Texas and globally, most of which are in Houston. A 5% reduction equates to roughly 1,000 jobs.
"This has been so challenging and so difficult for us to get here," she told the Chronicle. "We have been really thoughtful about it … and we do not plan to have additional job cuts or job eliminations." Texas Children's declined to answer Becker's questions surrounding when the layoffs are effective and which patient facing roles and leadership positions are affected.
Declining patient volumes and a two-week delay in the opening of a new, $450 million campus in Austin contributed to a nearly $200 million operating income loss through the first six months of the current fiscal year, according to Ms. Aldred.
The layoffs come after Texas Children's took a series of other steps to mitigate financial challenges, including reducing the size of its executive leadership team by about 10% and cutting their pay, she added. Over the past six to nine months, Texas Children's has trimmed the size of its executive team by not filling vacant positions. Responsibilities for vacant positions were assigned to other executives, who will see lower levels of compensation this year.
Ms. Aldred said some employees will be eligible to reapply for different roles within the organization. The hospital also plans to organize an employee support center to assist those affected with their job search.
Meanwhile, Texas Children's Health Plan is facing major potential changes if the state moves forward with plans to remove it as a Medicaid administrator and award contracts to new Medicaid providers. The health plan serves around 450,000 members.