Becker's Hospital Review

25 POPULATION HEALTH 25 CEO/STRATEGY Bay Medical to lay off up to half of 1,450 staff By Alyssa Rege P anama City, Fla.-based Bay Medical Sa- cred Heart revealed Dec. 4 it expects to lay off 635 staff members in early 2019 once it reopens, according to a news release obtained by the Panama City News Herald. Bay Medical sustained heavy wind and water damage when Hurricane Michael hit the U.S. coastline in October 2017, and has ceased all operations apart from its emergency room since the storm. On Jan. 2, the hospital resumed limit- ed inpatient care. However, the hospital will re- open at one-fourth of its previous 323-bed size. e first phase of the reopening will include 75 inpatient beds with eight operating rooms and five catheterization labs, according to the report. Hospital officials said in the Dec. 4 news release they plan to keep about half of the 1,450-person staff aer Feb. 4 aer the hospital reopens. A hospital board of trustee member told the Pana- ma City News Herald "all levels of service will be affected, from department heads to the mainte- nance guys." About one-third of the affected in- dividuals are part-time, as needed or temporary employees, a hospital spokesperson told Becker's. Bay Medical has continued to pay employees and provide benefits since the hurricane and will continue to pay employees and fund benefits through Feb. 4 and Feb. 28, respectively. "We are heartbroken to share this news at such a difficult time," Bay Medical CEO Scott Campbell said in the Dec. 4 news release. "e decision to reduce our workforce has been incredibly diffi- cult, but necessary to ensure our ability to con- tinue providing care to the community and pre- serve critical services." e hospital is also in the midst of a transfer of control. Bay Medical's owner, Nashville, Tenn.- based Ardent Health Services, recently signed a letter of intent to transfer its controlling interest in the hospital to St. Louis-based Ascension. To aid in the workforce transition, Ascension said it plans to hold a job fair. In a Dec. 4 state- ment to the Panama City News Herald, Ascen- sion and Ardent said they are committed to hiring as many eligible employees as possible for openings in their systems. n CHS appoints new director: 5 notes By Ayla Ellison F ranklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems appointed Elizabeth Hirsch to its board of directors. Here are five things to know about Ms. Hirsch: 1. Ms. Hirsch joined Praxair, a Danbury, Conn.-based industrial gases com- pany, in 1995 and held various roles at the company. Ms. Hirsch most re- cently served as Praxair's vice president and controller, a position she held from 2010 until her retirement in 2016. 2. Before joining Praxair, Ms. Hirsch had 15 years of experience in corpo- rate banking. 3. Ms. Hirsch serves on the board of directors of the Women's Business Development Council of Connecticut and on the New York advisory board of Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health. 4. Ms. Hirsch has a master's degree in finance from New York City-based New York University. 5. "Elizabeth Hirsch brings valuable insight in the areas of accounting and finance to the CHS board," Wayne Smith, chairman and CEO of CHS, said in a press release. "Her educational background and years of experience as a senior accounting and finance executive in a large publicly traded corporation will provide beneficial perspective and strengthen an already outstanding group of directors." n Jefferson Health, Boston Medical Center + 5 systems join Medicaid project By Morgan Haefner T he Medicaid Transformation Project added seven health sys- tems to its national effort to transform how care is delivered to vulnerable populations. To date, the project includes 24 health systems comprising 342 hos- pitals and more than $121 billion in combined annual revenue. Launched in summer 2018, the Medicaid Transformation Project will be led by Avia, a network of health systems focused on digital innovation and transformation, and former CMS Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt. The project will focus on improvements across four facets: behavioral health, women and infant care, substance use disorder and avoidable emergen- cy department visits. Here are the seven latest health systems to join the initiative: 1. BayCare Health System (Clearwater, Fla.) 2. Boston Medical Center 3. Cedars-Sinai (Los Angeles) 4. Carilion Clinic (Roanoke, Va.) 5. Children's Hospital Colorado (Aurora) 6. Jefferson Health (Philadelphia) 7. University Hospitals (Cleveland) n

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