In preparation for a pending sale, Memorial Hospital of Salem (N.J.) County will lay off 408 employees Dec. 31, according to NJ.com. The new hospital operator plans to rehire staff once the sale closes.
The layoff notices, required by New Jersey law, were sent to 339 employees at the hospital, 39 employees from a related clinic, 19 from its home healthcare unit and 11 from Salem Medical Professionals, the medical group serving the hospital.
The layoffs come as the struggling Salem hospital works to close a pending sale. In March, Bloomfield, N.J.-based Community Healthcare Associates announced its intent to acquire the hospital from Nashville, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems. The deal is expected to close Dec. 31.
Steve Lenox, a Community Health Associates spokesperson, told NJ.com the layoffs are "customary with ownership transitions" and Community Health Associates plans to hire most employees into their same positions with the same compensation.
"The employees were informed that they would be getting both the notice, as standard procedure in a transaction such as this, as well as an offer of new employment in the coming weeks," Mr. Lenox said.
The Memorial Hospital of Salem County is licensed for 126 beds, with 114 dedicated to medical-surgical and 12 intensive care unit beds. After the sale, Community Health Associates will modify the hospital to have 65 medical surgical beds, 12 ICU beds, 26 adult psychiatric care beds and 30 long-term care beds.