Chapel Hill, N.C.-based UNC Health Care officials said Charlotte, N.C.-based Atrium Health's recent cost-saving initiatives will not affect UNC operations or employees if the organizations continue with their proposed merger, according to The News & Observer.
Here are four things to know about the situation.
1. Atrium Health, formerly Carolinas HealthCare System, launched a four-year cost-cutting initiative last November, several months after announcing its decision to merge with UNC Health Care. Since launching the initiative, roughly 90 employees, eight in clinical roles and 82 in nonclinical roles, have been affected.
2. An Atrium Health spokesperson told Becker's Hospital Review last week the system's current goal is to operate at a 50th percentile efficiency rate compared to benchmarked systems of similar size.
3. Executives from both health systems expressed frustration last week over issues of control over the proposed combined entity. Atrium Health's plan to cut costs has similarly raised questions regarding workforce integration and corporate control of the merged organization, The News & Observer reports. The proposed merger would create one of the largest healthcare systems in the nation, comprising roughly 90,000 employees and 60 hospitals.
4. However, a spokesperson for the UNC System told The News & Observer via email that imposing a labor-to-revenue formula for UNC Health Care's 30,000 employees is not part of the merger discussions.
"UNC Health Care's financials (and debt) would remain separate and would not be subject to Atrium's 2020 targets/goals," he said.
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