UMass Hospital System to Shed up to 900 Jobs

First it was a hospital system in Hawaii undergoing mass layoff, and now the same thing is happening in Massachusetts. Here is the Boston Globe with the story:

UMass Memorial Health Care, which lost money in the last three months of 2011 amid shrinking patient volume, told its employees yesterday that it plans to shed 700 to 900 jobs, about 6 percent of its workforce, through a combination of layoffs at its flagship hospital and selling divisions that provide health services.

The health care system, which operates UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester and four community hospitals, is the largest employer in central Massachusetts with about 13,500 workers. But its profitability has been eroding for several years even as it faces increasing pressure from businesses and commercial insurers to reduce costs.

Patient discharges fell 6 percent in the most recent quarter from the same period a year earlier, while imaging tests dropped by more than 7 percent, said John G. O’Brien, chief executive of the Worcester-based system. He said the numbers are falling as the system prepares to shift from a fee-for-service model to so-called global payments, under which insurers give hospitals and doctors a budget to provide patient care.

But check out this very telling quote from the Chief Executive:

“We’re getting ready for the future,” O’Brien said, noting that the first phase of the restructuring will cut 150 jobs from the Worcester medical center. “We feel like we have to be more affordable. We hear that every day from employers in the Worcester area.” He also cited further anticipated payment cuts from Medicare and Medicaid, the government health insurance programs covering older and low-income residents.

You sure are getting ready for the future, Mr. O'Brien...just not the future you are expecting.


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