News of the workforce cuts comes at a time when hospital systems and health care companies are laboring under something of a paradox. Because of the lingering pandemic, some patients may be wary of seeing doctors for routine health care, all while that very pandemic is making health care arguably more important than ever.
The Premier Health workforce reduction could impact about 130-260 jobs. Position cuts include clinical and support roles, management and staff positions, according to a Premier Health spokesperson.
An American Hospital Association report published this summer found that hospitals are struggling to come to grips with “historic reductions in hospital inpatient and outpatient volumes, which have in turn driven drastic reductions in revenues and margins — all of which can impact hospitals' and health systems' abilities to serve their communities.”
The AHA report said patient volume is expected to remain well below “baseline levels,” and it estimated that a “minimum” of $120.5 billion in financial losses, for the rest of year, are possible.
“We, like other providers regionally and nationally, have experienced changing industry headwinds in recent years, some of which have intensified significantly during the current pandemic,” Premier said. "Our financial performance is under pressure from these industry headwinds, which include what we are paid for our care by government and private payers; continued shifts of care to the outpatient setting; changing consumer preferences; and the rapid adoption of telehealth.
“The entire industry – not just Premier Health – understands that we must transform,” the statement continued. “To position our organization to best serve the community through our organization’s next three-year strategic plan (2021-23), we are eliminating certain vacancies, transitioning certain roles, and undertaking a reduction in force — steps taken by other health care providers in our region and across the nation.”
Premier is one of the largest private employers in the region and operates Miami Valley Hospital, Atrium Medical Center and Upper Valley Medical Center as well as a network of physicians and outpatient centers.
A spokeswoman for Kettering Health Network said her company has responded to the pandemic by “flexing down" before once again returning workers to their jobs.
“We utilized several staffing strategies, including furlough options, that focused on supporting onsite teams in the delivery of safe patient care, providing resources for employees in areas most significantly impacted by low volumes, and maintaining the flexibility to return teams to work quickly as patient volumes returned,” KHN said. “In recent weeks, we have seen patient volumes rebound more quickly than anticipated for our industry, and we have been able to flex back up.”
Kettering Health did not say how many employees were furloughed.
Zachary Jenkins, an associate professor of pharmacy practice at Cedarville University, said it’s a challenging time for hospitals. When government lock-down orders in March closed the doors to routine outpatient medical care for some patients, that cut down on hospital referrals and created what today is a long waiting list in some areas of patients who need care.
And there remain some regional pockets nationwide where COVID-19 is stressing some hospital systems, Jenkins said.
“We do need to encourage people that this (visiting doctors and hospitals) is a controlled risk,” Jenkins said.
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