Becker's Hospital Review

18 CFO / FINANCE 800 Sutter employees accepted voluntary severance By Alia Paavola S acramento, Calif.-based Sutter Health, which saw a $321 million operating loss in 2020, has taken on several ini- tiatives to improve its finances, including a voluntary severance program, according to an April 21 investor presentation. To help cut operating costs, the health sys- tem initiated two voluntary severance pro- grams last year. About 800 employees vol- untarily le the organization aer accepting the packages in 2020, Brian Dean, senior vice president and CFO of Sutter Health, said during the presentation. An involun- tary separation also occurred this year; the health system laid off 277 employees, mostly in IT. As part of the financial recovery process, Sutter Health's management also is evaluat- ing its existing footprint and service offer- ings to better meet demand. In particular, the health system has shuttered its neonatal intensive care unit at Sutter Delta Medical Center in Antioch, Calif.; ended labor and delivery services at Sutter Solano Medical Center in Vallejo, Calif.; and closed its 16- bed Menlo Surgical Hospital in Menlo Park Calif., Mr. Dean said. In addition to eliminating labor costs and department closures, Sutter Health plans to continue to meter capital spending and as- sess projects to ensure they meet patient de- mand and are good financial opportunities for the health system. Sutter Health ended 2020 with a $321 mil- lion operating loss, including $800 million in funding from the Coronavirus, Aid, Re- lief and Economic Security Act. Without the funding, Sutter Health's operating loss would have been $1.1 billion, Mr. Dean said. "We're obviously doing a full review of all our operations and financial performance … gaining daily that crystal ball of what post-pandemic life will look like," Mr. Dean said. "We are in recovery mode; we do have a long-term commitment to the communities we serve and our mission." n Massachusetts hospital to lay off 56 employees, warns of more cuts By Alia Paavola L awrence (Mass.) General Hospital plans to lay off 56 employees and is warning of more cuts unless it receives more government aid, The Boston Globe reported May 25. The layoffs will affect employees working in administration and patient care. The layoffs affect about 2.5 percent of the 186-bed hospital's workforce. Lawrence General attributed the layoffs to the COVID-19 pandemic weakening its financial profile. "We were weak going into COVID, and now we're weaker coming out of COVID," Lawrence General President and CEO Deborah Wilson told the Globe. "It's an unsustainable situation." Ms. Wilson is warning that the hospital needs an infusion of at least $10 million in state or federal aid or it will need to make further cuts to remain in compliance with a bond covenant this year. While Lawrence General received $44 million in federal aid and $17 mil- lion from the state in 2020, it was not enough, according to Ms. Wilson. Ms. Wilson added that as of May of 2021, the hospital hasn't qualified for more federal aid payments since summer of 2020. n Mass General Brigham's $2B expansion faces backlash from providers, business leaders over equity and cost concerns By Morgan Haefner A group of healthcare providers, business and community leaders has formed a coalition to oppose parts of Mass General Brigham's $2 billion expansion. The group, Coalition to Protect Community Care, wants Mass General Brigham's plans to be reviewed by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, ac- cording to an April 28 report published in MetroWest Daily News. The coalition, which includes UMass Memorial Health in Worcester and physician organization Highland Healthcare Associates IPA, said new ambulatory services in three com- munities outside of Boston — Westborough, Woburn and Westwood — may be duplicative and raise equity and cost concerns. Outside of the coalition, UMass Memorial has already expressed its opposition to the expansion, arguing it would threaten the sustainability of its hospitals and medical school in Worcester. However, Mass General Brigham has said its plans to consolidate mental and physical care into one outpatient center would help lower costs and improve access for its 42,000 patients within a 20-mile radius of the proposed site. Altogether, the three ambulatory care sites are part of a $400 million ambula- tory expansion that Mass General Brigham announced in December 2019, ac- cording to the MetroWest Daily News. That $400 million expansion is in addition to a $1 billion building at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and a $250 million addition to Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital, also in Boston. n

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