Burlington-based University of Vermont Health Network is rearranging staff ahead of an expected surge of COVID-19 patients, the VTDigger reported.
Some workers at the network will have their pay reduced, their hours cut or be laid off, according to the report.
The network, which comprises six hospitals and one home health care provider in Vermont and New York, said the staffing changes come as it is trying to protect employees and ensure supply availability in preparation for COVID-patients.
In a letter to staff cited by VTDigger, Claude Deschamps, MD, president and CEO of the network's medical group, warned: "We will be facing the same situation [as New York City hospitals] in the very near future."
"We should expect to have 100 critically ill patients and hundreds of other patients in our academic hospital and in extension sites," Dr. Deschamps added.
In preparation for a surge of patients, network hospitals have closed or downsized nonessential departments, according to VTDigger. Elective surgeries have been canceled and an unspecified number of staff have been given the choice of signing up for others jobs in the hospital at the same pay rate, using vacation time, taking unpaid time off, or being furloughed.
Deb Snell, an emergency room nurse and president of the nurses union, told VTDigger layoffs primarily affect technical staff — employees in the sleep lab or electroencephalogram technicians.
Read the full report here.