Springfield Hospital cuts nursing staff

Springfield Hospital said that the economic downturn is catching up with its finances, and it has eliminated 14 full-time jobs.

http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20100801/NEWS02/708019830                   # # # # Springfield Hospital cuts nursing staff  •  Rutland Herald  •  By Susan Smallheer Staff Writer - Published: August 1, 2010  •  SPRINGFIELD — Springfield Hospital is laying off six or seven registered nurses as it copes with a $3 million budget gap.  •  Glenn Cordner, chief executive officer at the hospital, said a total of 14 full-time equivalents have been eliminated, but with attrition and some job consolidation, only six or seven people are losing their nursing jobs, which pay on average $30 an hour.  •  The moves are expected to save the hospital $1 million, plus the cost of the employees’ benefits, he said.  •  Cordner said the hospital’s expenses are down and gross charges are up, but net revenue is down $3 million more than expected through June. That represents more than 5 percent of its annual budget. He said the hospital so far this year has an operating loss of $300,000.  •  
“That’s not good,” said Cordner.  •  The hospital has about 100 full-time registered nurses on staff, he said.  •  Cordner said the percentage of the hospital’s patients who have some kind of government health insurance, whether it is Medicare, Medicaid or various Vermont state programs, has risen to more than 60 percent, and its percentage of patients with private or commercial insurance continues to drop.  •  And Medicaid, Cordner said, remains “the worst payer” when it comes to reimbursment rates for medical care.  •  The nurses who are losing their jobs are being urged to apply for four new care coordinator positions in the community health center network, he said, which is emblematic of the overall shift from acute care to preventive care.  •  “It’s an indication of shifting emphasis,” Cordner said.  •  
The layoffs and job eliminations leave the hospital with 300 full-time equivalent jobs, with 400 people filling those jobs.  •  Cordner notified the hospital staff of the layoffs Tuesday.  •  “Most of you are well aware of the financial challenges we face. In the hospital especially, what we are being paid is just no longer covering our operating costs, which are among the lowest in the state,” he wrote in a hospital-wide memo.  •  He said that loss of the employees requires some redesign of hospital patient care processes.  •  “We will accomplish this with the least disruption possible,” he wrote. “This is a challenge many hospitals are facing as are most enterprises in other sectors of the economy. It is the challenge of these difficult times.”  •