Becker's Hospital Review

16 CFO / FINANCE 22 hospitals laying off furloughed workers By Alia Paavola M ore than 260 hospitals in the U.S. furloughed workers this spring to help offset financial losses attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, several of those hospitals have been forced to lay off fur- loughed workers permanently. Here are 22 of them: 1. Cape Cod Healthcare (Hyannis, Mass.). Cape Cod Healthcare fur- loughed 595 employees in May due to reduced patient volumes and financial losses related to the pandemic. On Aug. 28, the health system announced that it had recalled 477 of the 595 furloughed workers, and 118 had to be laid off. 2. Cape Fear Valley Health (Fayetteville, N.C.). e health system furloughed 783 employees this spring to help offset financial dam- age from the COVID-19 pandemic. As of late July, Cape Fear Valley Health had brought back 721 furloughed employees and the remain- ing 62 employees were laid off, according to the health system. 3. Catholic Medical Center (Manchester, N.H.). In April, the hos- pital furloughed 423 employees aer canceling elective procedures to save staff and supplies for COVID-19 patients. It also reduced hours for 914 other employees. In late July, the hospital permanently laid off 50 furloughed employ- ees, as well as another 21 employees who weren't on furlough. 4. Children's Mercy (Kansas City, Mo.). e hospital furloughed 575 employees on April 26 and has since brought back all but 60 employ- ees. For those eligible, severance packages were made available. 5. Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center (Ogdensburg, N.Y.). In April, about 175 of the medical center's 850 employees were affected by sala- ry reductions, reduced hours or unpaid leave. A spokesperson for the medical center provided Becker's with the following statement Sept. 3: "We have been able to return all but 4 percent of our workforce to employment and restore salaries to pre-COVID levels. Nearly half of the layoffs are employees on unpaid leave. Other positions that have remained open or unfilled at this time have also been eliminated, but have not affected current employees. ese changes came into effect around July 31." 6. Erlanger Health System (Chattanooga, Tenn.). Erlanger Health System said in March it was implementing a cost-reduction plan that included furloughs and pay reductions for leadership. e health system ended its furloughs June 22, but had to lay off 93 workers who were previously furloughed across the health system, a spokesperson confirmed to Becker's Sept. 2. 7. Evangelical Community Hospital (Lewisburg, Pa.). In March, Evangelical Community Hospital furloughed 250 employees, includ- ing 173 full or part-time employees and 77 per diem employees. Nine full and part-time employees were laid off and seven full and part- time employees retired. As of Sept. 8, 155 full and part-time employ- ees had been recalled and the per diem employees were being used as needed, a hospital spokesperson told Becker's. 8. Halifax Health (Daytona Beach, Fla.). In April, the health system furloughed nearly 400 staff members and required all nonclinical staff take one day off per week. In July, Halifax laid off 95 of the furloughed workers. Employees no longer had to take one day of paid time off each week as of July 1, and employees who took a pay cut instead of paid days off had their salaries restored. 9. Hillcrest HealthCare System (Tulsa, Okla.). Hillcrest HealthCare System said in April it would furlough 600 employees for up to 90 days. e furloughs affected about 9 percent of staff and were a result of a decline in routine and elective procedures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A hospital spokesperson told Becker's Sept. 1: "We made the difficult decision to reduce staffing in some areas across our system as part of a strategic restructuring due to the devastating impact from COVID-19. While the reduction represents less than 1 percent of our workforce, it does not make the decision any less difficult or impactful to those team members affected." 10. Hospital Sisters Health System (Springfield, Ill.). Hospital Sis- ters Health System furloughed a portion of its staff in April due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In August, the health system announced plans to reduce its workforce by 10 percent. e reductions include some of those who were furloughed. 11. Lawrence (Mass.) General Hospital. In early April, Lawrence General placed 8 percent of its staff, or 160 employees, on a four-week furlough. Most of the furloughs affected nonclinical workers. e hos- pital told Becker's Sept. 2 that the safety-net facility had to extend the furloughs for four more weeks to address the volume dip and sub- sequent revenue loss attributed to the pandemic. Although most of the furloughed workers returned to work June 15, 10 furloughed po- sitions were eliminated, and a few employees remained on furlough until July 15. Now, those workers are back. 12. Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital (Grand Rapids, Mich.). e hospital furloughed 32 percent of its staff members in April, af- fecting 603 employees. As of Aug. 31, 512 employees had returned, 34 remained furloughed and 57 were terminated, a hospital representa- tive told Becker's Sept. 1. 13. Maury Regional Health (Columbia, Tenn.). Maury Regional Health implemented two rounds of furloughs this spring that affected 414 employees; the first round affected 340 employees. Of the 414 em- ployees affected, 287 staff members were called back to work, and 127 employees were laid off, a hospital spokesperson told Becker's Sept. 2. 14. Mid-Columbia Medical Center (Dalles, Ore.). e medical center began furloughing employees May 3, primarily from affected departments that were not seeing a lot of patients. A Mid-Columbia Medical Center spokesperson told Becker's the medical center has brought back all of its furloughed staff members, except for those who worked within its spa services, which have been closed due to finan- cial instability. 15. Melissa Memorial Hospital (Holyoke, Colo.). Melissa Memorial Hospital, a 15-bed critical access hospital with about 100 employees, placed 19 employees on furlough this spring due to a reduction in vol- ume amid the pandemic. e hospital had a layered approach to cost reduction, as some employees were on reduced hours or furloughed, and managers volunteered to take pay cuts. Cathy Harshbarger, BSN, RN, the hospital's CEO, confirmed with Becker's that due to restructuring to respond to the pandemic, eight employees were laid off, and the remaining employees were brought back to work.

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