Posted on 10/13/2010 7:25:56 AM PDT by greatdefender
Strained by flat patient volume and pressure from health insurers, UMass Memorial Health Care told employees today that it will eliminate about 350 jobs, nearly 2.6 percent of its 13,700-person workforce, in the state's largest hospital cutback this year.
The health care system, which operates the three-campus UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester and four community hospitals in Central Massachusetts, said it expects to lay off 130 workers, freeze another 120 vacant jobs, and shed the equivalent of 100 jobs by reducing overtime and shifting employees from full time to part time.
"We're trying to prepare ourselves for the longer term," John G. O'Brien, president and chief executive of Worcester-based UMass Memorial Heath Care, said in an interview. "We don't think the pressure on hospitals to reduce costs will abate for several years."
The staff cuts are the latest evidence that the continuing weak economy and the push to rein in health care costs are taking their toll on hospitals across Massachusetts -- particularly those, like UMass Memorial Medical Center, that serve many low-income patients on Medicaid, the state health insurance program for poor residents.
Last month, Boston Medical Center, which treats many of the city's neediest patients, said it would pare 119 jobs from a workforce of 6,000, a 1.9 percent reduction. Across the Charles River, the Cambridge Health Alliance, which runs so-called safety net hospitals in Cambridge, Somerville, and Everett, has cut hundreds of jobs over the past 18 months, though many of their cuts took place in 2009.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
I propose all headlines like this be followed with (ObamaCare!)
Clearly this must be Bush’s fault.
Thanks to Obama she probably wouldn't survive if she went in again.
“I propose all headlines like this be followed with (ObamaCare!)”
Why? This cut is driven by insurance providers according to the article.
We once had a great healthcare system. But we exchanged it for something like the UK has.
sure.
They see no profit or future in expanding because of....
BurmaShave!
I mean BamaCare
of course they'll blame the economy, but the biggest reason is that Medicare and Medicaid is not paying the true cost of service....
add in charity care, and care to people that don't buy insurance who then may or may not pay....
Notice the "this year." It doesn't say in the history of the hospital so we don't know if this is anything that major or not. Many of those jobs were vacant so it might be more of a bookkeeping situation where job titles, duties, or departments change.
1. Non profit hospitals operate with razor thin margins
2. Current market forces are delaying and even cancelling elective procedures
3. Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement schedules fall well below actual costs and so...
4. Disproportionate share hospitals are taking a bigger bath than normal.
But ultimately, I believe the real problem is structural. Hospitals are highly inefficient business operations. Half of their expenses are labor related, and their most expensive labor is elastic on a daily basis. They struggle to flex their staffing to patient volumes, but even if they are successful, an effective flex-down results in disgruntled employees seeking work elsewhere.
The employee dissatisfaction is understandable. How would you like to be hired as a full time nurse, or imaging tech, or pharmacist, and then be told to take a vacation day (if you have one) because workload is lower?
Many in the nursing profession complain about patient safety and overtime requirements, but their real concern should be not having enough work available on a consistent basis. It's already happening.
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