St. Elizabeth announces layoffs

UTICA — St. Elizabeth Medical Center said Wednesday it implemented job cuts involving less than 10 positions to help ensure the hospital’s long-term sustainability.

St. Elizabeth currently employs 1,975 people. Fewer than 10 employees representing eight different departments will be laid off, and most of those laid off will be offered the opportunity to apply for vacant positions at the medical center. No registered nurses are included in the layoffs.

“These are difficult decisions in challenging economic times,” President and CEO Richard Ketcham said in a news release. “We have a responsibility and an obligation to the community we serve, the medical center, and its board of trustees to ensure the long-term sustainability and fiscal health of the organization, while continuing to meet our mission.”

Hospital officials said some of the factors behind the layoff include the decreased reimbursement to hospitals from the state Medicaid system. In addition, those reimbursements have not kept pace with the cost of care.

Over the past three years, St. Elizabeth has experienced more than $11 million in Medicaid cuts.

“We will continue to work with our elected officials on achieving Medicaid reform that includes the redesign of the Medicaid system,” Ketcham said.

St. Elizabeth’s human-resources department is working with those affected job cuts, Patrick Buckley, vice president of human resources, said.

Ketcham said the layoffs will not affect patient care.

“We anticipate a seamless transition as the medical center continues its mission of providing excellence in health care and education in our community,” he said.

In late 2011, St. Elizabeth and another Utica–based health-care system, Faxton St. Luke’s Healthcare, announced the beginning of merger discussions between the two organizations. Both hospitals cited difficult economic and regulatory environments that make it challenging for hospitals to survive as reasons behind the possible merger.

In January of this year, Faxton laid off 24 employees and cut 28 vacant positions while St. Elizabeth laid off 24 employees and cut 16 vacant positions, with both hospitals citing reductions in Medicaid reimbursements as the reason for the reductions.

Contact DeLore at tdelore@tmvbj.com