University of Chicago Medical Center has laid off about 180 employees, or less than 2% of its roughly 13,000-person workforce.
The organization, which is part of the University of Chicago Medicine, an academic medical health system based on the campus of the University of Chicago, announced the layoffs on Feb. 1.
"As a leading health system and the South Side's only academic medical center, we are proud of our role in caring for patients with complex, serious illnesses," the University of Chicago Medical Center said in a statement shared with Becker's. "We also face the same challenges as many other health systems across the country. After careful consideration, we made the difficult decision to separate about 180 employees from the University of Chicago Medical Center."
University of Chicago Medical Center said the majority of affected positions are not direct patient facing, but no further information was provided regarding the specific positions affected. Those affected were notified Feb. 1 and are being provided a severance package, the statement said.
"This decision was not made lightly or easily but is necessary to position us to deliver on our mission and enhance the quality of care that we provide," the University of Chicago Medical Center added. "We continue to review further ways to operate more efficiently."