Catholic Medical Center is laying off 54 employees and cutting others’ hours in the face of “unprecedented financial challenges,” according to a memo to staff Thursday.
The reduction involves a total of 142 full-time equivalent positions, achieved through a combination of 54 staff reductions, elimination of open positions, reduced hours, resource redeployment in satellite locations and planned departures, the memo said.
“These reductions, paired with other cost-saving strategies and a concentrated effort on increasing volumes and revenue growth, will better position CMC for the future,” wrote President and CEO Alex Walker in the memo. “We must continue to operate in a manner that is fiscally responsible, ensuring we are charting a course that will enable our organization to continue to provide the highest quality healthcare to our patients, who have come to expect nothing less.”
Walker wrote that the past several years at CMC have “been full of change and challenges.”
“Increasing costs, lower reimbursements, changing demographics and changes in our payor mix have all contributed to the financial stress of the organization,” Walker wrote. “We are not alone but we must do what is best for the long term future of CMC.”
In the memo, Walker said he realizes the staff reductions impact “a number of highly valued colleagues and team members.”
“I am grateful for the commitment and dedication they have shown to CMC and our patients. It was not without great thought and careful consideration that these decisions were made, but in light of the economic challenges we face, it was, unfortunately, necessary,” Walker wrote. “I understand that today is a difficult day for CMC.”
In July 2020, CMC laid off 71 employees. The hospital had furloughed 423 workers in late April that year, as losses from the cancellation of elective surgeries piled up, but many of those workers were brought back. Officials then announced 50 of those who had been on furlough would be laid off, along with another 21 employees working at CMC.
Forty other employees had their hours cut.
In September, Catholic Medical Center announced it had signed a nonbinding letter of intent to explore a partnership with HCA Healthcare, the first step toward a potential agreement to join the Tennessee-based for-profit health care network.
HCA Healthcare owns 185 hospitals and 123 surgery centers in 21 states and the United Kingdom. In New Hampshire, HCA owns Portsmouth Regional Hospital, Parkland Medical Center in Derry, Frisbie Memorial Hospital in Rochester and freestanding emergency rooms in Seabrook, Dover and Plaistow.
