Greensburg, Pa.-based Independence Health System has cut 226 positions since January. Now it is refocused on growth, one hospital president told the Butler Eagle.
The system, formed Jan. 1 from the merger of Butler (Pa.) Health System and Greensburg-based Excela Health, began its layoffs from the top, terminating 13 manager positions in March. Most recently, another 53 employees lost their jobs in late June.
Karen Allen, president of Butler (Pa.) Memorial Hospital and Clarion (Pa.) Hospital, told the newspaper she has attempted to allay employees' concerns that more layoffs are imminent.
"Today, I was out on the floor, ran into one of the workers who said, 'We heard there is a rumor there are more layoffs coming in October,'" Ms. Allen said. "I said, 'That is not true, we're not looking at that right now. I can't promise there will never be another layoff, but we're not looking across the system to say, "Where can we get savings in labor?" We did that, and now we're looking at how do we grow.'"
Independence is one of at least 80 health systems that have eliminated jobs in 2023. View Becker's full roundup here.