Virginia Mason Franciscan Health confirms staff cuts amid financial losses
The grim financial picture hospital officials have warned about this year is manifesting with local staff reductions in at least one health system.
Virginia Mason Franciscan Health told The News Tribune it is reducing its workforce “through primarily non-patient-facing roles,” adding that “we are working closely with affected employees, including providing career transition support and continued benefits. Impacted employees are also eligible to participate in our severance program.”
The cuts so far have totaled less than 2 percent of VMFH employees, out of its workforce of about 19,000 people among its 10 hospitals, hundreds of clinics and other medical sites in the area.
VMFH added, “We continue to direct investments and savings to our patients’ bedside and the frontline caregivers who serve them.”
Kelly Campbell, vice president of marketing and communications, for VMFH, told The News Tribune in an emailed statement that “Like many health care providers in the Pacific Northwest, we are experiencing tremendous financial strain caused by a number of factors, including lasting impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation and labor shortages.“
Campbell added, “As a result, we are taking steps to improve efficiency and effectiveness, as well as reduce our costs. These decisions are not made lightly but are necessary for our continued stability and future growth.”
Hospital executives warned last month at a Washington State Hospital Association news conference that health care losses were overall worse in 2022 than 2021, as health systems faced a combination of COVID relief funding winding down and no increases of reimbursement for Medicare/Medicaid recipients along with rising labor and supply costs.
According to a WSHA survey, participating hospitals said they saw a total net income loss of more than $2.7 billion, compared with a $1.2 billion loss in 2021. They reported a net operating income loss of $2.1 billion, compared with $742 million loss in 2021.
Scott Thompson, media representative for Tacoma-based MultiCare Health System, told The News Tribune this week that it had no plans for any staff layoffs this year.
MultiCare was recently in the news for its plans later this month to close its James Center Indigo Urgent Care clinic in Tacoma, replacing it with a MultiCare Obstetrics Access Clinic. Plans call for the James Center clinic workers to transfer within the system.
This story was originally published April 6, 2023 at 10:01 AM.
