A Kentucky healthcare provider laid off 500 employees last month, following suit with plans it announced earlier during the month, according to a published report.
Two-hundred career opportunities were left unfilled by KentuckyOneHealth, The Lexington Herald-Leader reports. The company announced the employment market activity on the final day of last month via a video posted on the company’s website.
Chief executive officer Ruth Brinkley said during the video clip that “additional difficult decisions” might be in play during the ongoing process of implementing change within the company. She also noted the effort circled on a drive to conserve financial resources.
“It is difficult to tell how much we saved at this point,” the chief executive officer said during the video, according to the news source, noting the care and comfort that the healthcare company was able to continue to providing to patients was very slightly impacted.
Three Indiana hospitals lost staff last year
Shifting north, three of the U.S.’ biggest layoffs at medical centers occurred in Indiana, according to the Indiana Business Journal.
But, despite the job losses endured by about 2,700 people, hospital employment figures in the nation did not endure that much of a change, the news source reports. The three hospitals’ layoffs were among the nation’s five biggest reductions in forces in 2013.
KentuckyOneHealth retains a staff of temporary workers, the chief executive officer said, attributing the reason for that measure to a consistent adjustment in the amount of patients typically changing in number. She said she is unsure how large that staffing reserve is, where it is deployed and what sort of skills are available.
Many of those who had been laid off last month by KentuckyOneHealth were able to secure new professional opportunities, she said. The organization intends to continue implementing efforts that merge services as it finds necessary.
The news source reports the organization was preparing to announce that it has fomented a partnership that aims to boost outreach and access for primary care services. The outfit also aspires to upgrade the drive to benefit wellness and prevention.
The move at KentuckyOneHealth comes at a key juncture. A nearby medical facility announced it too has some changes afoot.
The Medical Center Jewish Northeast in Louisville recently announced it is set to shutter early next month.
Because of reduced demand at that site for emergency medical services, patients in need of care are being referred to three hospitals as close as seven miles from that site or as far as 19 miles away, according to the news source.