Wednesday, February 16, 2011
YOUNGSTOWN
Eighty-one people are being laid off, some immediately, from the three hospitals that made up the former Forum Health.
Nonunion employees and union leaders were notified Tuesday, said David Fikse, chief executive officer of Northside Medical Center and the health system, which has not been formally named.
According to the hospital system’s announcement, 51 jobs will be eliminated at Northside, 17 at Trumbull Memorial Hospital in Warren, one at Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital in Howland, and 12 in central operations. Nurses are not affected, Fikse said.
Each facility reviewed its staffing levels to determine whether they are appropriate for the number of patients and the needs of the patients. It was determined that staffing adjustments are appropriate, said Fikse.
The layoffs represent about 3 percent of the hospital system’s 3,300 employees, he said.
Fikse said very few of the affected positions are clinical, and the layoffs will not affect the quality of patient care. Many of the reductions come from corporate departments under the old Forum Health structure, such as legal, internal audit, management, and administrative positions.
For example, he said Forum employed attorneys. Under the new owners, Community Health Systems, either corporate attorneys will be used or others would be hired for specific events, he said.
Others layoffs come because of consolidation of redundant positions to create better efficiencies, and finally, from hospital support departments, he said.
The hospital is providing support for affected eligible employees, including severance packages that are more generous than those which would have been provided under the old Forum policies, Fikse said.
Because some of the positions are covered by collective-bargaining agreements, a bumping process will identify which employees are affected, he said.
“Eliminating jobs is very difficult. We know this decision has a real and direct impact on the lives of those affected, and we are trying to help them as much as possible,” said Fikse.
“At the same time, we must make these adjustments in order to restore and strengthen our hospitals so that we may remain open and ready to care for our patients and to provide jobs for local residents,” he said.
As growth and attrition occurs, the hospital system will look within the organization and to laid-off employees to fill positions, and train employees when necessary, Fikse said.
Northside and TMH are in a long-term, strategic effort to restore the operational and financial health of the hospitals. Five months after emerging from bankruptcy, the hospitals are using capital to improve facilities and upgrade medical technology. They are also implementing growth strategies to add health services, help recruit new physicians to the community and enhance patient care, he said.
Along with these developments, the hospitals must also make some necessary course corrections to operate more efficiently and to control expenses. A number of these measures already have been implemented, Fikse said.
“Our top priority is always to deliver high quality patient care, and we will continue to do that – there will be no impact on the services, care or comfort provided for our patients,” said Fikse.