Detroit Medical Center plans to cut $17 million in expenses via a workforce reduction of approximately 1 percent, according to a Crain's Detroit Business report.
Here are five things to know.
1. DMC's cost-cutting is attributed to Medicaid and other state budget reductions for next year.
2. A total of 60 employees and managers will be affected by DMC's layoffs. Additionally, DMC plans to cut another 40 unfilled positions, a hospital official told Crain's Detroit Business. The report notes that another 30 employees were reassigned to other positions.
3. Of the layoffs, Conrad Mallett Jr., DMC's chief administration officer, said in a statement to Crain's Detroit Business: "We regularly evaluate operations and staffing to enhance the quality of care and patient experience we provide. DMC operates in the most efficient way possible so we can continue to invest in our facilities and community.
"Recently we made the decision to reduce approximately 1 percent of the DMC workforce. We minimized the number of affected employees by first eliminating open positions and realigning certain job functions, with careful attention to avoid affecting direct patient care."
4. While DMC is implementing cuts, the hospital's parent organization, Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare, is also moving to reduce expenses at many of its U.S. hospitals to help pay healthcare fraud fines of $514 million and to shore up stock prices, physician sources told Crain's Detroit Business. As of late August, Tenet's stock price had plummeted 60 percent since July 2015.
5. Two physician sources also told the publication the cost-cutting at DMC and Tenet is expected to worsen over time. DMC officials refused further comment to Crain's Detroit Business. Tenet officials did not return a phone call from the publication seeking comment.