Adventist Health Bakersfield (Calif.) will cut dozens more jobs as the 254-bed medical center continues restructuring, according to The Bakersfield Californian.
The layoffs, slated for the first or second quarters of 2019, affect about 40 workers in the medical center's patient financial services division.
They are a result of Roseville, Calif.-based Adventist Health's expanded partnership with Cerner. Under the partnership, Cerner hired about 170 former employees of the Bakersfield medical center. Cerner invited the 40 employees who will lose their jobs next year to seek a job at its headquarters in North Kansas City, Mo., although it it unclear how many will be rehired, according to the report.
The patient finance job cuts are separate from Adventist Health Bakersfield's plans to cut 13 to 15 duplicate jobs, effective Nov. 16. Those cuts primarily affect laboratory assistants who do blood draws.
The Californian reported the most recent layoffs are also separate from the Adventist Health's human resources and finance job cuts last year and early this year in Bakersfield. Fewer than10 Bakersfield workers affected by those cuts moved to other Adventist Health roles in Roseville.
In general, Adventist Health Bakersfield attributed job cuts to financial challenges in today's healthcare environment.
"I think as healthcare organizations are continuing to meet the demands of the environment that we work in, that we operate in. We always have to balance ... whether ...changes need to be made and/or the ability to expand our mission to allow us to continue to serve more people in the community," Steve Chen, CFO of Adventist Health Bakersfield, told The Californian.
Hospital officials said employees affected by layoffs have received assistance in applying for other positions within Adventist Health.
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