Becker's Hospital Review

10 CFO / FINANCE 10 hospitals, health systems laying off workers By Ayla Ellison Several hospitals and health systems are trimming their workforces due to financial and operational challenges. 1. Ascension is closing Ascension St. Vincent Dunn, a critical ac- cess hospital in Bedford, Ind., and nine medical practices in De- cember, a move that will affect 133 employees. Affected employ- ees who do not secure another position within the health system will be offered severance and outplacement services. 2. Quincy, Ill.-based Blessing Health System closed its hospital in Keokuk, Iowa, Sept. 30. e closure affected 151 workers. e layoffs take effect Nov. 4. e employees will do on-site work or be placed on administrative leave until the layoff date, Blessing Health said. 3. Delaware County Memorial Hospital in Drexel Hill, Pa., will lay off 334 workers when it closes in November. e layoffs are effec- tive Nov. 26 and come aer Springfield, Pa.-based Crozer Health, which owns the 168-bed hospital, announced plans to halt all services at Delaware County Memorial Hospital. 4. St. Vincent Charity Medical Center in Cleveland will lay off 978 workers when it ends many services in November. e hospital, part of Sisters of Charity Health System, is ending inpatient care and most other services in November. Aer the transition, the facility will offer outpatient behavioral health, urgent care and primary care. 5. Yale New Haven (Conn.) Health eliminated 155 management positions from its nearly 30,000-person workforce. e health system laid off 72 employees and eliminated 83 vacant positions, a spokesperson told Becker's Hospital Review in September. e cuts were attributed to financial pressures. 6. Commonwealth Health, part of Franklin, Tenn.-based Commu- nity Health Systems, will lay off 245 employees when it closes facilities at the end of October. e health system is closing First Hospital, a psychiatric hospital in Kingston, Pa., and its various outpatient centers on Oct. 30. Affected workers are encouraged to apply for open positions they're qualified for at other Com- monwealth Health facilities, a system spokesperson told Becker's in August. 7. Greenwood (Miss.) Leflore Hospital is laying off workers, closing clinics and keeping its intensive care and labor and delivery units closed. An estimated 20 full-time and 20 part-time staff will be laid off. e hospital is making changes aer it was forced to halt operations in August. 8. Citing financial pressures, BHSH System cut about 400 positions from its 64,000-member workforce in September. e 22-hospi- tal organization was formed by the February merger of Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Spectrum Health with Southfield, Mich.- based Beaumont Health. 9. Bakersfield (Calif.) Heart Hospital is laying off 114 employees. Affected employees were told in September that they no longer had to report to work, but they will continue to receive full pay and benefits through Nov. 5. e layoffs are an effort to optimize operations and to free up resources for patient care and special- ized surgery, the hospital said. 10. Columbus-based OhioHealth informed state regulators in Sep- tember that it will lay off 58 workers. ose affected by the lay- offs include accounts receivable specialists, coders, a manager of financial services and a supervisor of patient financial services. e health system filed the notice about two months aer e Columbus Dispatch reported that OhioHealth is eliminating 637 information technology and revenue cycle management jobs. n NorthBay Health CFO stepping down amid cost- cutting initiatives By Alan Condon N orthBay Health CFO Michele Bouit on Nov. 18 will step down from her role for personal reasons as the health system strives to meet a $100 million cost-savings goal by the end of the year. The Fairfield, Calif.-based health system has implemented several cost-saving initiatives and is pursuing key funding opportunities to reach its goals. In July, NorthBay said it will cut 7 percent of its workforce, equating to 190 full-time positions, as part of its cost-cutting measures. Ms. Bouit will assist in the selection of an "experienced in- terim CFO" and will help integrate her successor into the health system before her departure, according to the news release. "I am grateful for [Ms. Bouit's] guidance through this chal- lenging period," B. Konard Jones, president and CEO of NorthBay, said in the release. "She has assisted in provid- ing us with a step-by-step roadmap which we will execute throughout the remainder of her tenure with us and con- tinue beyond her departure with the help of an interim CFO." n

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