Hutcheson Medical Center in Fort Oglethorpe, Ga., laid off 58 employees in September, according to a Chattanooga Times Free Press report.
Here are four things to know about the layoffs.
1. Hospital CEO Farrell Hayes announced the job cuts Sept. 30 during a monthly board meeting. He said the hospital also stopped performing emergency surgeries last week, meaning EMS drivers will take those patients to other nearby hospitals, according to the report.
2. The hospital cited financial issues as the reason behind the cuts. "We're trying to make the hospital's cash flow better and more profitable," Mr. Hayes said, according to the Chattanooga Times Free Press. The hospital filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2014, hoping to find a group of investors to take over the hospital and allow 700 people to keep their jobs, according to the report. However, the Chattanooga Times Free Press notes, court filings show that through August, the hospital gathered $6 million in additional debt. During a bankruptcy court hearing on Sept. 2, Mr. Hayes testified he believed the hospital would get an offer from an outside company within about a week, according to the report. He anticipated that the offer would be worth about $20 million.
3. The hospital laid off employees in two waves. The first wave occurred at the beginning of September, and the second wave came Sept. 23.
4. Details about the layoffs were not disclosed. But multiple sources close to the hospital told the Chattanooga Times Free Press that many of those laid off were middle managers at Hutcheson Medical Center. That included the director of the ICU, the director of outpatient services, the director of engineering, the director of health information management, the head of Parkside Nursing Home's environmental services and Parkside's dietary manager.
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