East Stroudsburg, Pa.-based Pocono Medical Center plans to lay off 61 registered nurses to cut costs as inpatient volumes dwindle, according to the Pocono Record.
"As the national model for healthcare delivery continues to transform, Pocono Health System is required to find ways to provide better care to more people at a lower cost while also dealing with the continuing shift from inpatient to outpatient care," hospital spokesman Geoffrey Roche said in a statement to the Pocono Record. "As a result, we have communicated our need to have a reduction in force."
The planned layoffs represent about 2 percent of Pocono's total workforce. Mr. Roche said the hospital is working with those affected to help them find new positions within and outside of the organization, and that affected areas of the hospital will remain "appropriately staffed."
Douglas Placa, district council executive director of JNESO, a healthcare union that represents RNs at Pocono, expressed concern about the planned nurse layoffs. "They're the ongoing, direct healthcare providers. When you take that away, it's going to be hurtful," he told the Pocono Record.
The layoffs will mark the second time Pocono Medical Center has cut its workforce this year. In May, the hospital eliminated 55 jobs.
Pocono Medical Center didn't immediately respond to Becker's request for comment.
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