Newton, Mass.-based Atrius Health, the state's largest independent physician group, is temporarily closing offices, furloughing many nonclinical employees and deferring pay for remaining workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Kaiser Health News reported.
On average, Atrius is deferring 20 percent of pay for some workers, which will be returned, according to the report. The withholding of pay does not apply to employees earning up to $55,000.
"What we're trying to do is piece together a solution to get through the crisis and keep employed as many people as we can," Steven Strongwater, MD, Atrius Health's president and CEO, told Kaiser Health News. He said patient volume has dropped 75 percent since mid-March.
Atrius Health has 715 physicians and primary care providers and 425 other clinicians, serving at 30 medical practice locations in eastern Massachusetts.